DAVID WIESNER: A MAN OF FEW WORDS by Heather Vandermillen Did you ever hear the expression “a picture's worth a thousand words”? It means that instead of saying 1000 words about something you could say nothing and show someone a picture and they would get the same idea. Well, if you look at books by the illustrator, David Wiesner you might think a picture is worth 10,000 words or 100,000. There is so much going on in each picture.
Wiesner was born in 1956. As a kid growing up in Bridgewater, New Jersey he was always interested in art. At school he was known as “the kid who could draw”. His father saw his interest and gave him a big, oak, drafting table where he could draw. This became David's favorite spot to imagine and create. He also spent time in the library studying famous artist like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Eventually he learned about the surrealists like Dali and Magritte whose paintings are often bizarre and otherworldly. David Wiesner used to do funny experiments with art as a kid, like attaching a paint brush to a turtle and having him walk across a big sheet of paper or filling squirt guns with paint and squirting them with paint . In fact Wiesner says some of the ideas he has in his books go back to when he was a kid. He went through a period where he liked to sketch vegetables. He drew a picture of a space ship/pepper in the 8th or 9th grade. As an adult he used this idea to create the book June 29, 1999, which is about a science fair project that leads to flying vegetables.
Growing up he was also fascinated with flight; you can see that in his books Tuesday with its flying frogs and the flying pigs in his version of The Three Pigs. Wiesner also loved to visit the ocean and was very interested in sea creatures. His inspiration for his books Sector 7 and Flotsam were his yearly vacations on the Jersey Shore where he developed an interest in the sea and its creatures.
Wiesner went to art school at the Rhodes Island School of design where he studied to be an illustrator. One of his professors was David McCauley who created the books Cathedral, Pyramid and Castle that show you how these structures are designed. McCauley, taught Wiesner not only how to improve his art but how to tap into his imagination and be creative. When Wiesner first started working as an illustrator he worked on books that other people wrote. The first book he illustrated was Honest Andrew by author Gloria Skurzynski. A few years later, his editor encouraged him to work on his own ideas. Eventually he and his wife adapted the fairy tale the The Loathsome Dragon.Next, he created Free Fall and that book won a Caldecott Honor. He mostly works on his own books now.
It can take David Wiesner a couple of years to finish one book. He starts out with preliminary sketches and keeps adding to them and changing them. His works contains many imaginary worlds ; sometimes he builds models of his ideas so he can draw them correctly. When he has everything drawn out just as he wants it he paints the final illustrations in watercolors.
Many of David Wieners books have few or no words. He was inspired by silent films and movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey that have very little dialog. He loved seeing how he could tell a story without words. He was also a fan of comic books. Flotsam is a good example of how he uses both cinematic (movie) and comic book techniques. Since there are no words in this book the pictures have to tell the story. Wiesner includes small frame pictures, like in comic books, to help show how the plot progresses.
Wiesner was also a fan of Mad Magazine as a kid and this is also clear in his work. He really likes to shake things up with his books, to make you look at things in a different way. In his version of The Three Pigs you think you are reading the same old story about the pigs who build houses of straw, wood and brick and the wolf who tries to blow them down. But instead he has the pigs escape out of the story into the white space of the book. They take one of the illustrations and fold it into an airplane and fly across an empty white page. Eventually they visit other picture books where they befriend a cat and a dragon and bring them both home. Wiesner said he had been playing around with this idea of characters breaking out of their story, but it took him a while to figure out how to develop it.
I've had for years this idea of characters leaving a story and moving into the space behind the story. You know, having the entire format of the book collapse and leave them standing in this sort of nether world. And when I began to seriously try to put a story to that concept, I had to figure out, well, if the reader is going to start in one story and leave it, I kind of have to start off with something that they're going to recognize. And the most recognizable stories I could think of were Goldilocks or The Three Pigs. (Bodett, Conversations with David Wiesner).
Wiesner also feels that drawing like writing needs a lot of editing. You really have to think about where the readers eyes are going to fall and you want to make sure they are drawn towards the most important parts of the story so that it flows from one picture to the next. Just like when you write you want to have detail but you don't want to distract the reader from the main point. He often uses light to attract the viewer's attention to a certain element of the illustration.
David Wiesner's hard work and attention to detail has made him one of the best known and respected children's books illustrator. The Caldecott Medal is an award given to the best picture book of the year. He has one this three times, for Tuesday in 1992, The Three Pigs in 2002, and Flotsam in 2007. And as I mentioned before, he won a Caldecott Honor for Free Fallin 1989.
David Wiesner lives outside of Philadelphia, PA. His wife, Kim Kahng, is a surgeon and they have two children, Kevin and Jaime.
Lesson Plan for the SLMS Gr. 1-3 This lesson plan is designed to support the writing curriculum by helping children understand what makes an engaging story. Teachers often say “show me don't tell me.” An interesting sentence is one that the reader can draw a picture about. Instead of “I played with my toys.” we want students to write “Yesterday at Sam's, we built a leggo town and then had godzilla knock down all the buildings.”
In this lesson we reverse the process so children can start with a visual image and form an interesting description. Read one of the David Wiesner's books to the class. Point out which parts of the illustrations are main elements of the story that move the plot forward and which elements of the pictures are details that round out the story and give it flavor. Discuss the idea of showing vs. telling in writing. Now go through page by page with the class and write text that both focuses on the plot while including details. Work as a group to come up with 2 or 3 descriptive sentences for each page that both convey plot while adding flavor.
This lesson plan is designed to help students understand point of view. Gr. 3-5 Teaching children the importance of point of view can be tricky. David Wiesner's books visual focus can help children see the importance of perspective. Take one of the minor characters in one of David Wiesner's books. Ask children to write a paragraph telling the story or part of the story from this characters point of view. How would the man who wakes up and sees frogs flying by in the book Tuesday tell this story. How about the first boy who had the camera in Flotsam. What is his life like? What happened to the camera? Or did he intentionally throw it in the ocean? Why? Or, did something happen to the camera? What?
Modeling: This lesson plan uses art to encourage children to examen books more carefully. David Wiesner often creates a model of his ideas before he draws them. Pick a page from one of Wiesner's books with lots of details. Break the class into groups of 5 or 6 and have them create a model using clay, paper, and small toys. This would be a good project to do in combination with the art teacher.
Bibliography:
As Author/Illustrator
1987 //Loathsome Dragon// (co-authored with Kim Kahng) Rewriting of the story of a princess who is turned into a dragon by her evil stepmother. Only her brother can change her back.
1988 //Free Fall// A boy falls asleep and into the pages of the atlas he is reading. He floats with his blanky through imaginary countries!
1990 //Hurricane// When a tree is uprooted in a Hurricane two brothers use the tree as a clubhouse that is the center of many exciting adventures.
1991 //Tuesday// A group of frogs have a night on the town when they discover they can fly!
1992 //June 29, 1999// A science fair project leads to flying vegetables!
1999 //Sector 7// A young boy visiting the statue of liberty discovers Sector 7 where clouds are assigned their shapes. With the help of a cloud friend he uses his drawing skills to shake things up.
2001 //The Three Pigs// It seems like just another day of houses blowing down for the three pigs until they decide to break out of their story!
2006 //Flotsam// A young man discovers an old camera at the beach. When he develops the film he realizes he's not the first to have owned this camera nor will he be the last!
2010 //Art & Max// Max's art lessons from Art never seem to turn out as planned! What do you expect from two Lizzards?
Caroff, Susan F., and Elizabeth B. Moje. "A conversation with David Wiesner: 1992 Caldecott Medal winner. (children's author)." The Reading Teacher 46.4 (1992): 284+. General Reference Center Gold. Web. 14 Oct. 2010.
Giorgis, Cyndi, and Nancy J. Johnson. "Interview with the 2002 Caldecott Medal winner, David Wiesner." The Reading Teacher 56.4 (2002): 400+. General Reference Center Gold. Web. 14 Oct. 2010
Macaulay, David. "David Weisner." The Horn Book Magazine 68.4 (1992): 423+. General Reference Center Gold. Web. 14 Oct. 2010.
Silvey, Anita. "Pigs in space: David Wiesner's latest creation soars beyond the boundaries of conventional picture books." School Library Journal 47.11 (2001): 48+. General Reference Center Gold. Web. 14 Oct. 2010.
Lois Ehlert was born in 1934 in Beaver Dan, Wisconsin which is in the north central part of the United States. She has a younger sister and brother and nieces and nephews. When she was growing up her parents encouraged her interest in nature and art. They gave her pieces of fabric and wood and a table in a special place to work on her projects. After she graduated from high school she attended art school in Milwaukee which is on the west coast of Lake Michigan.
Ms Ehlert has won many awards and honors for her work. In 1990 Color Zoo was a Caldecott Honor Book. Books such as Growing Vegetable Soup and Feathers for Lunch have won awards because they are such good science books.
Ms Ehlert loves books. She has books everywhere in her house and still she goes to libraries to borrow books and to bookstores to buy more books. Her first job after college was as a graphic artist. In the 1960s she began to also illustrate children’s books. The illustrator of a book is the person who creates the artwork. At first she illustrated books written by other people. The publisher would send her a book, and she would decide if it was something that she would enjoy illustrating and how she would illustrate it.
In the mid 1980s Ms Ehlert learned how to make handmade books and this was the beginning of her writing and illustrating books. The very first book that she illustrated and wrote was Growing Vegetable Soup.
Most of her books have something to do with nature. They might be about cats or birds, squirrels or snowballs, leaves and vegetables. She takes her ideas for her books from nature, from taking long walks and looking around her and noticing everything. She also collects things that she notices such as leaves. When she has decided on a theme for a book, she studies. For her counting book Fish Eyes, trips to the aquarium to sketch the fish were part of how she learned about fish to prepare for making the book.
Sometimes Ms. Ehlert finds it hard to decide on topic for a book. Nuts to You! came about because a squirrel got into her house through a broken screen. It is the story of how she got the squirrel out of her house. She is very careful to make sure that the objects in her pictures are the correct size. She does things like measure her sister’s cat’s head, legs and tail to make sure that she was drawing the proportions correctly. She uses the actual article as a model when she can. While she was making Eating the Alphabet she went to the grocery store regularly to buy the most perfect examples of the fruits and vegetables she was using. The store clerks knew what letter she was illustrating by which fruits and vegetables she was buying!
For Ms. Ehlert, the drawings come before the words when she is making a book. She makes small, rough sketches of the illustrations and words of the book page by page first and then she makes a “dummy” book. A “dummy” book looks like a book but it only shows where the artwork and text will be placed on the pages and the artwork will not all be completed, it may only be sketched. This is what is sent to publishers to see if they want to publish the book.
Ms Ehlert makes her illustrations using an art style called collage. A collage is defined as an artistic composition made of various materials (as paper, cloth, or wood) glued on a surface. Ms Ehlert uses very strong, bold, vibrant colors to make her illustrations practically pop off the page! In some of her books she also uses more than just paper to make her pictures. She adds items that she has found or made such as a twig or leaf; pencil or fork; popcorn or coffee bean.
Feathers for Lunch is the story of a hungry cat wanting some “wild” food, not just canned food. The model for the cat was Bucky, Ms. Ehlert’s sister’s cat. Trips to the Field Museum in Chicago supplied the models for the birds so that she could make sure that her illustrations of the birds were the right sizes and colors. During the cat’s romp through the backyard you see a red Geranium plant, a yellow Forsythia branch, a pink Bleeding Heart plant, apple blossom, red and yellow Tulips, a lush purple Lilac bush and a plush purple-red Petunia and you know that it is spring time. Because the cat is so big compared with the birds and the plants sometimes just his head is shown, sometimes his tail, and sometimes just the words “jingle jingle”, the sound that his bell makes. At the back of the book there are illustrations of the birds in the story with information about their size and habitat or place where they live.
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf is the story of a Sugar Maple tree from seed to grown tree. Ms. Ehlert cuts holes in some pages to create more color and depth. She also uses seeds, twigs, sacking, string and many other things to create her interesting collages. Although her illustrations are labeled to identify what is on the page, as usual, she uses a small print so that the labeling is not the most important thing on the page. If you want to plant a tree yourself, then the information she provides at the back of the book will get you started.
Leaf Man was created because of Ms Ehlert’s habit of collecting things, in this case leaves. She loves the vibrant or brilliant colors of the leaves and to preserve that color, she photocopied her leaves and used the photocopies to make the collages. Many people helped her collect samples of different types of leaves from different parts of the country. In this book she also cuts the pages so that they look like hills and one page leads you on to the next.
Please welcome Ms Ehlert to our school and give her you full attention!
Lessons · Read several of Lois Ehlert’s books with the students, discussing the story and all the additional information provided at the back of most of the books · Explain art vocabulary such as collage, illustrator · Allow students time to examine the books for themselves · Provide paper, scissors, glue, paint · Provide, or ask the students to bring, such things as leaves, twigs, pinecones, scraps of fabric, any small items that could be glued to a page · Let students choose a topic such as a nature theme that interests them and then compose a collage that illustrates that topic in the same way the Ehlert does. · Provide reference materials for students, as needed, so that they can check colors and sizes of animals for example · Display the artwork.
Books by Lois Ehlert SELF-ILLUSTRATED
Growing Vegetable Soup, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1987, 2004.
Planting a Rainbow, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1988.
Color Zoo, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1989.
Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1989.
Color Farm, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1990.
Feathers for Lunch, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1990.
Fish Eyes: A Book You Can Count On, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1990, Red Wagon Books (New York, NY), 2001.
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1991.
Circus, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1992.
Moon Rope: A Peruvian Folktale, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1992.
Nuts to You!, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1993, Voyager Books (Orlando, FL), 2004.
Mole's Hill: A Woodland Tale, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1994.
Snowballs, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1995, Red Wagon Books (New York, NY), 2001.
Under My Nose (autobiography), photographs by Carlo Ontal, Richard C. Owen (Katonah, NY), 1996.
Hands, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1997.
Cuckoo: A Mexican Folktale, translated into Spanish by Gloria de Aragon Andujar, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1997.
Top Cat, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1998.
Market Day: A Story Told with Folk Art, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2000.
Waiting for Wings, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2001.
In My World, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2002.
Pie in the Sky, Harcourt (Orlando, FL), 2004.
Leaf Man, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2005.
Wag a Tail, Harcourt (Orlando, FL), 2007.
Oodles of Animals, Harcourt (Orlando, FL), 2008.
ILLUSTRATOR
Patricia M. Zens, I Like Orange, F. Watts (New York, NY), 1961.
Edward Lear, Limericks, World Publishing (Chicago, IL), 1965.
Mary L. O'Neill, What Is That Sound!, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1966.
Mannis Charosh, Mathematical Games for One or Two, Crowell (New York, NY), 1972.
Andrea Di Noto, The Great Flower Pie, Bradbury (New York, NY), 1973.
Vicki Silvers, Sing a Song of Sound, Scroll Press, 1973.
Nina Sazer, What Do You Think I Saw? A Nonsense Number Book, Pantheon (New York, NY), 1976.
Diane Wolkstein, The Visit, Knopf (New York, NY), 1977.
Jane J. Srivastava, Number Families, Crowell (New York, NY), 1979.
Richard L. Allington, Shapes and Sizes, Raintree Publishers, 1979.
Bill Martin, Jr., and John Archambault, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1989.
Gene Baer, Thump, Thump, Rat-a-tat-tat, Harper (New York, NY), 1989.
Bill Martin, Jr., and John Archambault, Words, Little Simon (New York, NY), 1993.
Sarah Weeks, Crocodile Smile: Ten Songs of the Earth as the Animals See It, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1994, 2003.
Bill Martin, Jr., and John Archambault, Chicka Chicka Sticka Sticka: An ABC Sticker Book, Little Simon (New York, NY), 1995.
Stuart J. Murphy, Jr., A Pair of Socks, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1996.
Ann Turner, Angel Hide and Seek, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1998.
Bill Martin, Jr., and Michael Sampson, Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2004.
" Lois Ehlert." 2008. Books & Authors. Gale. 30 Sep 2010. Web.
"Lois Ehlert." 2008. Contemporary Authors Online. Gale. 30 Sep 2010. Web.
“Ehlert, Lois (Jane)” Something about the Author V. 128 New York: Gale, 2002. Print.
Ehlert, Lois. Under My Nose. Katonah, NY: Richard C. Owen, 1996. Print.
Eric Carle
Illustrator Study by Susan Shatford
Eric Carle was born on June 25, 1929 in Syracuse, New York. He is the son of German immigrant parents. Eric fondly remembers his walks through the woods and fields with his father as they explored nature and all of the animals they saw along the way. This would be the beginnings of his interest in nature and the animal world. When Eric was only 6 years old his family decided to move back to Germany. Eric didn’t like the German schools. He was sad and missed living in America. When Eric realized that he was not going back to America to live, he decided to become a bridge builder so that he and his German grandmother could walk back to America. Because Eric didn’t like school as a child, he wanted to make sure that other children did not feel the same way.
After graduating from college with a degree in graphic design, Eric returned to America. He worked as a commercial artist at The New York Times until the middle of the 1960’s when he illustrated his first children’s book. He went on to write many books which have received awards in England, France, Japan, and the U.S. His books have been published around the world in 17 languages. The first book that he co- wrote with Bill Martin Jr. and illustrated was Brown Bear, Brown Bear. In addition to Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Eric has gone on to illustrate 78 books in total. He writes and illustrates for young readers. He is best known for his book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This book was translated into more than 45 different languages and has sold over 30 million copies. Some of Eric’s other popular titles are The Mixed-Up Chameleon, The Very Busy Spider, The Very Quiet Cricket, and The Very Lonely Firefly. Eric’s favorite book is DoYou Want to Be My Friend? because it is about friendship.
Eric Carle’s illustrations show an animal or scene and provide a good amount of white space as a background. This helps the reader focus on the key part of the picture without getting lost in any background details. Eric likes to leave this “breathing room” as he calls it in his pictures. His pictures are bold and yet beautifully simplistic. Eric believes that sometimes children prefer to have a simple concept presented in the least difficult way. As a child he found that if things were too wordy or busy on a page, it made it harder for him to understand. Along with his colorful illustrations, Eric sometimes uses other means to add to the story, such as the chirping of the cricket in The Very Quiet Cricket, the clicking of The Very Clumsy Click Beetle, the squeak of the little rubber duck in 10 Little Rubber Ducks, the flickering lights in The Very Lonely Firefly, and visual tricks to show complementary colors in Hello, Red Fox.
Eric’s uses an abstract artistic style with his illustrations. The medium that he prefers to use is tissue paper painted with acrylic paint. Collage is the type of art he favors when illustrating his books. The collages that he creates provide great texture and make his characters and scenes seem more detailed. Eric uses many elements of art, principles of design, and his artistic style to create his incredible illustrations. To show the elements of art in his book The Tiny Seed, Eric uses different lines to show changing emotions in his two dimensional illustrations. He uses a horizontal line when showing the seeds traveling through the air from page to page. This use of line gives us a peaceful or calm feeling. As some of the seeds are lost in the desert, mountain tops, and sea, he uses a diagonal line that helps add to the tension of the little seeds long journey. Finally, Eric uses a vertical line when the little seed starts to sprout into a plant and grow. This vertical line shows many things such as growth, stability, and strength. The seed’s long journey has overcome many obstacles and through the use of line we have followed the journey.
In addition to line, Eric uses texture as one of his elements of art. Eric likes to add depth to his illustrations. A great example of this is in his book Mister Seahorse. Eric uses acetate pages along with his paper pages to overlay pictures and create a hiding place for the creatures that Mister Seahorse meets along his travels. Before you turn the transparent page the sea creature is somewhat hidden with his similar coloring to that of his surroundings, but after you turn the page you meet the creature and can almost feel its texture. You can almost feel the slippery seaweed or hard edges of the rock that the animals hide behind. Another example of texture added to an illustration is in his 3-dimensional thermography web (or bumpy lines) in The Very Busy Spider.
Eric uses the five principles of design which are harmony, variety and contrast, balance, movement, and dominance. Harmony is accomplished by repetition and rhythm of the elements of art. Eric shows repetition and rhythm in his book 10 Little Rubber Ducks with his continued use of the ducks. In this story Eric varies his size of the boat, darkness of the ocean colors, overlapping of objects when the boat loses its cargo to show variety and contrast in the story. This keeps the story from being too boring. When showing a two-page illustration, Eric keeps his balance in the asymmetrical picture because while he has his small boat on one page the uses the sun to balance this illustration on the other page. Movement is shown in his illustrations by the ducks being a little off-balance in the water as they move from place to place. The bright yellow color of the duck draws the reader’s eye to it on every page and gives it a sense of importance or dominance. To show movement of time, he uses a sun and moon. A good example of time passage is in the different sizes of the pages with the clocks at the top in The Grouchy Ladybug.
As an artist, Eric makes his own colored tissue paper. He starts with white tissue paper and then uses acrylic paint to paint it a single color. Once it dries, he adds other colors onto his painted base coat. These layers add depth and texture and are the main medium he uses for his illustrations. He then cuts pieces of acrylic painted tissue papers and layers them to make the shapes in his collages. In addition to his collages, he sometimes adds drama and depth by using die-cut pages in his illustrations or, as he did with Mister Seahorse, cutting the shapes first, crumpling the tissue paper and then painting it. He has also been known to paint or stamp his tissue paper with a piece of carpet, sponge, or burlap. He has used woodcut illustrations in Tales of the Nimipoo & Feathered Ones and Furry, multi-color linoleum block print illustrations in The Boastful Fisherman, and cartoon-like drawing in Otter Nonsense. Eric likes his books to be fun and playful so that children will want to read and explore them.
Eric knows that children are curious about the world that they live in. He remembers that incredible feeling he used to have when he and his dad would observe the creatures that they had found. He tries to put his strong feelings of the joy he had experienced into words to create his books. While some of his ideas for books came from these walks, others came from just being silly. His punching a hole in a bunch of papers was the beginnings of his book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Eric believes that his ideas come from all of his experiences that he has had in his life, his education, and what he holds in his heart. He considers himself a picture writer.
SLMS & Art Combined Lesson Plan Audience: This lesson is meant for children in 2nd grade. Purpose: To help children explore illustrating with painted tissue paper collage like Eric Carle uses for his illustrations. Collaboration: Since the children will be creating a collage caterpillar, the SLMS will need to collaborate with the art teacher to make colored red, green, brown, and yellow tissue paper during two of the children’s art classes. Library Materials: You will need The Very Lonely Firefly,The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and The Mixed-Up Chameleon. You will also need glue sticks, scissors, caterpillar section templates, pencils, white construction paper, and wipes. Art Class Materials: You will need white tissue paper, tiny pieces of carpeting, acrylic paints, paint brushes, scissors, and white construction paper. You will also need the video Eric Carle: Picture Writer and the book The Very Quiet Cricket. Duration: This will take two weeks. Time Frame: This lesson is meant to run the two weeks before the Caldecott Award is announced.
Week 1 – Library
Remind children that the Caldecott Award for illustrating will be announced soon. Tell them that it is awarded each year to the very best illustrated picture storybook.
Tell them that we are going to focus on Eric Carle in both library class and art class.
Read The Very Lonely Firefly to the class.
Ask children if they know how Eric Carle makes his pictures.
In art they will be making their own paper over the course of two weeks that they will use to illustrate The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Explain to them that collage is when you use many pieces of materials to make an illustration. As in the case of Eric Carle, he uses tissue paper that he paints more than once to cut out many pieces for his illustrations.
Read The Mixed-Up Chameleon to the class.
Leave time for children to pick out books. Have Eric Carle books on display.
Week 1 – 1st Art Class
The art teacher has visual displays of various pieces of Eric Carle’s work around the room for the children to reference.
Art teacher reminds children that they are focusing on Eric Carle and his illustrations.
The art teacher shows children the last portion of the video Eric Carle: Picture Writer where Eric is making his paper to use for his collages.
Ask the children what he paints on to make his illustrations.
Ask them if they remember other than a paintbrush what else Eric uses to make his colored tissue paper.
Remind children of the steps that he uses to make collages out of tissue paper.
Step 1: Take white tissue paper (5x7 inches)
Step 2: Paint it with one color
Step 3: Let it dry
Step 4: Repeat steps 1-3 for each color you need
Step 5: Once paper is dry, add another color with brush, fingers, and/or back of carpeting.
Step 6: Let it dry
Tell children that they are only doing Steps 1 – 4 today.
Hand out 1st piece of tissue paper and red paint.
Hand out 2nd piece of tissue paper and green paint.
Hand out 3rd piece of tissue paper and yellow paint.
Hand out 4th piece of tissue paper and brown paint.
Place all painted tissue papers on a piece of cardboard with the child’s name. Let them dry for the next class.
Week 1 – 2nd Art Class
The art teacher has visual displays of various pieces of Eric Carle’s work around the room for the children to reference.
Art teacher introduces the book The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle to the class.
Remind the children to look at the illustrations.
Have art teacher read the book The Very Quiet Cricket to the class.
Ask the children what they liked about the illustrations.
Remind the children that Eric makes collages out of tissue paper.
Step 1: Take white tissue paper (5x7 inches)
Step 2: Paint it with one color
Step 3: Let it dry
Step 4: Repeat steps 1-3 for each color you need
Step 5: Once paper is dry, add another color with brush, fingers, and/or back of carpeting.
Step 6: Let it dry
Tell children that they are only doing Steps 5 & 6 today. Tell them that they are going to add more depth and texture to their painted tissue paper.
Show children that in addition to using the bristles on his brush, Eric Carle also uses the back of his paint brush, his fingers, and/or the back of a small piece of carpeting to add another color to his painted tissue paper.
Hand out each child’s 4 painted tissue papers from last week and some assorted acrylic paints in dishes.
Place all painted tissue papers on a piece of cardboard with the child’s name. Let them dry for next class.
Week 2 – Library Class (Note: You will want to have 2-3 parent volunteers to help with the activity.)
Remind children that the Caldecott Award for illustrating will be announced next week and that it is awarded each year to the very best illustrated picture storybook.
Show the children the cover of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Tell them that they will want to look at the illustrations of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Read The Very Hungry Caterpillar to the Class.
Ask children if they remember how Eric Carle makes his pictures.
Ask them how they liked making their own painted tissue paper like Eric Carle.
Explain to them that collage is when you use many pieces of materials to make an illustration. As in the case of Eric Carle, he uses tissue paper that he paints more than once to cut out many pieces for his illustrations.
On tables in library give children glue sticks, a white piece of background paper, their painted tissue papers and scissors. Offer templates of the caterpillar sections for children to cut out all of the body pieces and assemble them.
Have children put their name on the front corner of their art work.
Save the collages to put on display outside of the library.
Have wipes on hand before children can pick out books.
Leave time for children to pick out books. Have Eric Carle books on display.
Awards and Recognitions (a partial listing of the awards he has received)
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Literature Award presented by the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library, 2008
The NEA Foundation Award for Outstanding Service to Public Education, 2007
John P. McGovern Award in Behavioral Sciences, Smithsonian Institution, 2006
Laura Ingalls Wilder Award from the Association for Library Service to Children, American Library Association, 2003
Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, 2001
Japan Picture Book Award, Presented by Mainichi Newspaper for Lifetime Achievement, 2000
Outstanding Friend of Children, Pittsburgh Children’s Museum, 1999
Regina Medal, Catholic Library Association, 1999
University of Southern Mississippi Medallion from DeGrumond Collection, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattisburg, MS, 1997
The 1995 David McCord Children’s Literature Citation, Framingham State College + The Nobscot Reading Council of the International Reading Association, 1995
Silver Medal from the City of Milano, Italy, 1989
Illustrated Books · Brown Bear, Brown Bear - 1967 · 1,2,3 to the Zoo - 1968 · The Very Hungry Caterpillar – 1969 · Pancakes, Pancakes! - 1970 · The Tiny Seed – 1970 · Tales of the Nimipoo (written by Eleanor B. Hardy) – 1970 · The Boastful Fisherman (written by William Knowlton) – 1970 · Feathered Ones and Furry (written by Aileen Fisher) – 1971 · The Scarecrow Clock (written by George Mendoza) - 1971 · Do You Want to Be My Friend? – 1971 · The Rooster Who Set Out to See the World – 1972 · The Very Long Tail – 1972 · The Very Long Train – 1972 · The Secret Birthday Message – 1972 · Walter the Baker – 1972 · Do Bears Have Mothers Too? – 1973 · Have You Seen My Cat? – 1973 · I See a Song – 1973 · My Very First Book of Numbers – 1974 · My Very First Book of Colors – 1974 · My Very First Book of Shapes – 1974 · My Very First Book of Words – 1974 · Why Noah Chose the Dove (written by Isaac Bashevis Singer) – 1974 · All About Arthur – 1974 · The Hole in the Dike (written by Norma Green) – 1975 · The Mixed-Up Chameleon – 1975 · Eric Carle’s Storybook, Seven Tales by the Brothers Grimm - 1976 · The Grouchy Ladybug – 1977 · Watch Out! A Giant! – 1978 · Seven Stories by Hans Christian Andersen – 1978 · Twelve Tales from Aesop – 1980 · The Honeybee and the Robber – 1981 · Otter Nonsense (written by Norton Juster) - 1982 · Catch the Ball! – 1982 · Let’s Paint a Rainbow – 1982 · What’s For Lunch? – 1982 · Chip Has Many Brothers (written by Hans Baumann) – 1993 and the new title: Thank You, Brother Bear - 1995 · The Very Busy Spider – 1984 · The Foolish Tortoise (written by Richard Buckley) – 1985 · The Greedy Python (written by Richard Buckley) – 1985 · The Mountain that Loved a Bird (written by Alice McLerran) – 1985 · All Around Us - 1986 · Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me – 1986 · My Very First Book of Sounds · My Very First Book of Food – 1986 · My Very First Book of Tools – 1986 · My Very First Book of Touch – 1986 · My Very First Book of Motion – 1986 · My Very First Book of Growth – 1986 · My Very First Book of Homes – 1986 · My Very First Book of Heads – 1986 · All in a Day (collected by Mitsumasa Anno, in collaboration with 9 other artists) – 1986 · A House for Hermit Crab - 1987 · The Lamb and the Butterfly (written by Arnold Sundgaard) – 1988 · Eric Carle’s Treasury of Classic Stories for Children - 1988 · Animals, Animals (compiled by Laura Whipple) - 1989 · The Very Quiet Cricket – 1990 · Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? (written by Bill Martin Jr.) – 1991 · Dragons Dragons (compiled by Laura Whipple) – 1991 · Draw Me a Star - 1992 · Today Is Monday – 1993 · My Apron – 1994 · The Very Lonely Firefly – 1995 · Little Cloud – 1996 · The Art of Eric Carle – 1996 · From Head to Toe - 1997 · Flora and Tiger: 19 Very Short Stories From My Life – 1997 · Hello, Red Fox – 1998 · You Can Make a Collage: A Very Simple How-to Book – 1998 · The Very Clumsy Click Beetle – 1999 · Does A Kangaroo Have A Mother, Too? – 2000 · Dream Snow – 2000 · “Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” said the Sloth – 2002 · Where Are You Going? To See My Friend! – 2003 · Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? (written by Bill Martin Jr.) – 2003 · Mister Seahorse - 2004 · 10 Little Rubber Ducks – 2005 · Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? – 2007
Sources
Carle, Eric. 10 Little Rubber Ducks. New York, N.Y.: HarperCollins, 2005.
Carle, Eric. Hello, Red Fox. New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 1998.
Carle, Eric. Mister Seahorse. New York, N.Y.: Philomel, 2004.
Carle, Eric. Rooster's off to See the World. New York, N.Y.: F. Watts, 1972.
Carle, Eric. The Art of Eric Carle. New York: Philomel, 1996.
Carle, Eric. The Grouchy Ladybug. New York, N.Y.: HarperCollins, 1996.
Carle, Eric. The Tiny Seed. Natick, MA: Picture Book Studio, 1987.
Carle, Eric. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. New York, N.Y.: Collins, 1979.
Carle, Eric. The Very Lonely Firefly. New York, N.Y.: Philomel, 1995.
Carle, Eric. Today Is Monday. New York, N.Y.: Philomel, 1993.
Cummins, Julie. Children's Book Illustration and Design. New York, N.Y.: PBC International, 1992. Eric Carle: Picture Writer. Dir. Rawn Fulton. Perf. Eric Carle. Searchlight Films, 1993. Videocassette.
Frohardt, Darcie Clark. Teaching Art with Books Kids Love: Teaching Art Appreciation, Elements of Art, and Principles of Design with Award-winning Children's Books. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Resources, 1999.
Kovacs, Deborah, and James Preller. Meet the Authors and Illustrators: 60 Creators of Favorite Children's Books Talk about Their Work. New York, NY: Scholastic Professional, 1991.
Norton, Donna E. Through The Eyes of a Child: An Introduction to Children’s Literature, 7th ed. Pearson: New Jersey, 2007. The Official Eric Carle Web Site. Web. 11 Oct. 2010. <http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html>.
David Small grew up in Detroit, Michigan. Growing up in a big city, in an industrial setting (lots of cement, big buildings, factories), made him appreciate the beauty of art and music, as well as to see the need for beauty in life, from a young age. His father was a doctor and his mother was a stay at home mom. He was born with breathing problems and was often ill. At age 11 a bump was discovered on his neck. Thinking that it was a harmless growth, surgery to remove it wasn’t seen as urgent. Three and a half years later, at the age of fourteen he was finally operated to remove what had become quite a large bump. The first surgery revealed that the bump was cancer and a second surgery was immediately done to remove the bump. During the second surgery, one of his vocal cords was also removed. Since vocal cords are necessary for talking, he was left virtually voiceless for years until he discovered that screaming and talking in a loud voice made his remaining vocal cord stronger. He screamed whenever he could and told himself stories in a loud voice and eventually regained the ability to speak. The surgery also left him with a long, ugly scar that stretched from his ear to his throat. Although his mother encouraged his talent at art, his life at home was not very happy. Members of his family were often angry and no one spoke to each other very much. His parents did not tell him that he had cancer; he learned this by accident when he came across a letter his mother had written. His parents considered him difficult and sent him far away to live at a strict boarding school. He ran away three times. He left home at the age of sixteen to live on his own. He recently wrote about his childhood in a graphic novel titled Stitches. He does not consider himself good with words, and generally illustrates the work of other authors, which is why his book Stitches is a graphic novel – he is more comfortable telling stories through pictures. His talent as an artist was apparent at a young age and his mother encouraged this by sending him for lessons at the Detroit Institute of Arts. He later studied art in college and went on to get a Master of Fine Arts at Yale University. His goal was to be a fine artist, not an illustrator, and so he never studied illustration. He taught drawing and printmaking at a small college for fourteen years, until cutbacks resulted in him losing his job. At this point he turned his attention to illustration and cartoons and made his living drawing editorial and political cartoons for various publications, including The Washington Post, the New Yorker, and the New York Times. Eventually he began writing and illustrating books for children – both picture books and chapter books. He has illustrated 29 books, 8 of which he wrote himself. Eulalie and the Hopping Head was the first book Mr. Small wrote and illustrated, in 1982, followed by Imogene’s Antlers in 1985. In 2001 he won a Caldecott Medal for So You Want to Be President?, a book that made use of his style of political cartoons. The book was written by Judith St. George. Mr. Small illustrated two other books with this same author, So You Want to Be an Inventor?and So You Want to Be an Explorer? All of these books feature stories about real people and their accomplishments, told in small, humorous anecdotes. At the end of each book there is a section that contains additional information about the people as well as other places to look for information on these topics. Mr. Small has illustrated five books written by his wife, author Sarah Stewart. Among these are some of his best known books – The Library, The Money Tree, and The Gardener. The Gardner was a Caldecott Honor Book. Mr. Small’s art falls into the genre of realism. His pictures attempt to portray people and things as they actually appear. His political cartoon style, while somewhat more exaggerated, still falls into this category as the people and things he draws are easy to recognize as their real life counterparts. Mr. Small uses watercolor and pen and ink to make his illustrations. His illustrations contain a great deal of meticulous detail. For George Washington’s Cows he traveled to Washington’s home, Mount Vernon, and spent hours making sketches of architectural details and notes on the light in each room so that his depictions of the home would be authentic. In The Huckabuck Family and How They Raised Popcorn in Nebraska and Quit and Came Back, background in the city often contains posters advertising well known products such as 7 Up and the cost – 5cents – which convey the fact that the story is set during the Great Depression. In The Library, we see posters on Elizabeth Brown’s walls of Tolstoy and Woolf, and in The Gardner, another depression era book, we see an actual framed portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the wall of her uncle’s bakery as well as signs advertising bread for 5 cents a loaf. In spite of the great deal of detail, the subject of each is never lost. Mr. Small achieves through the use of monochromatic backgrounds, as in Fenwick’s Suit where the background painted is all in shades of sepia, or muted and out of focus, as in That Book Woman. Mr. Small also often surrounds his subject, or the focus of a particular illustration with a halo like area of white and paints them in bright colors. We see this in The Huckabuck Family when the second buckle is discovered as well as in depictions of the girl in The Gardner and The Friend. Mr. Small’s characters are sharply defined, and succeed in showing their emotions through skillfully wrought posture, stance and expression outlined in pen and ink, yet still appear soft due to the choice of color used to fill them in. This is true, as well, of secondary characters and of animals, which populate his books. He varies the perspective to convey setting as when we see the small, country girl first experience the big city in The Gardner, as well as to further develop characters as in The Friend, where Belle’s parents are pictured driving away from her, already too far to distinguish on a separate page from where she stands, clinging to her nanny who is solid and facing us squarely. In many of Mr. Small’s books he tells us a lot about the story before we even arrive at the first page, though his use of the endpapers and title pages. The background and initial act that sets in motion a chaotic scene is all explained before the first page of Once upon a Banana. In The Library the endpapers show well stocked bookshelves and a nice reading lamp, while the first title page shows a solitary woman reading on a park bench oblivious to the birds all around her. By the second title page we see this same woman, face still hidden in a book, reading as she walks through a rainstorm under an umbrella and we are curious to meet her. In The Gardner we are treated to Lydia Grace happily helping her grandmother in the garden, a subject referred to in many of her letters home. The use of the endpapers is not limited to beginnings, but extends to the end, where, in The Gardner we see Lydia Grace and her grandmother walking away from us, presumably back to the garden as they are carrying seeds and trowels. The most touching use of these papers is found in The Friend. The opening papers provide the setting for the entire story and tell us so much about our protagonist. The first shows us a tiny girl, Belle, in an enormous and ornate bed and bedroom, all alone. She stands out with her red hair and blue nightdress against the room, which is all in shades of brown. In the next pages, she gets out of bed, finds and clutches her teddy bear, and makers her way down a grand staircase. At the front door we meet her parents, who are checking their watches and ready to leave. All of this and before the first page of text. At the end, after the story has been told, we have one last page showing us Belle as a young woman standing in a room that resembles that of her nanny rather than her parents’ grand house, clutching a gold locket that hangs around her neck. On the back endpapers is a rendering of the locket, with an actual photograph of a black woman holding a young, red headed baby. Stewart’s brief note suggests that this was her own childhood and that Bea was her real friend and caregiver. And this is true. Lesson After reading a selection of Small’s books, including So, You Want to Be President?, The Gardner, The Friend, The Library, and That Book Woman have students explain how Small adds to the story through his illustrations. Does the text tell us how Belle is feeling as her parents drive away? What do we learn abut the characters from the illustrations that is not included or obvious from the text? Sources Allen, Jenny. Children’s Books: Just the Two of Us. New York: The New York Times. Web. 10/15/10. Appelt, Kathi. The Underneath. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Atheneum Books. 2008. Armstrong, Jennifer. Once Upon a Banana. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Simon & Schuster. 2006. Broach, Elise. When Dinosaurs Came with Everything. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Atheneum Books. 2007. Cummins, Julie, ed. Children’s Book Illustration and Design. Volume II.New York:PBC International. 1998. Henson, Heather. That Book Woman. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Atheneum Books. 2008. Kennedy, Edward M. My Senator and Me: A Dog’s eye View of Washington, D.C. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Scholastic Press. 2006. Mah, Linda. Children’s Illustrator David Small finds a ‘sense of relief’ in releasing graphic novel about his unhappy childhood. Kalamazoo, MI: Kalamazoo Gazette. 2009. Web 10/13/10. Sandburg, Carl. The Huckabuck Family and How They Raised Popcorn in Nebraska and Quit and Came Back. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1999. Original text copyright 1923 by Carl Sandburg. Silvey, Anita. The Essential Guide to Children’s Books and Their Creators. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 2002. Small, David. Paper John. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1987. Small, David. Imogene’s Antlers. New York: Crown Publishers. 1985. Small, David. Eulalie and the Hopping Head. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1982. Small, David. Stitches. New York: W. W. Norton and Company. 2009. Stewart, Sarah. The Library. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1995. Stewart, Sarah. The Journey. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2001. Stewart, Sarah. The Gardner. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Scholastic Press. 1997. Stewart, Sarah. The Friend. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2004. Stewart, Sarah. The Money Tree. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1991. St. George, Judith. So You Want to Be President? Illustrated by David Small. New York: Philomel Books. 2000. St. George, Judith. So You Want to Be an Explorer? Illustrated by David Small. New York: Philomel Books. 2005. St. George, Judith. So You Want to Be an Inventor? Illustrated by David Small. New York: Philomel Books. 2002.
Leo and Diane Dillon: “The Third Artist”
by Britt Sorensen
Husband and wife artists Leo and Diane Dillon have collaboratively illustrated a diverse range of works over the past fifty or so years. Both Leo Dillon and Diane Sorber were born in 1933, just eleven days apart. However, they were born and raised on opposite coasts of the United States: Leo was born in New York, while Diane was born in California. Although they would not meet until college, they both were aware of their own artistic talent from a very young age and encouraged by the adults around them to develop their artistic gifts. Before they even met one another, they had seen and admired one another’s artwork. When they met at Parson’s School of Design in 1954, they competed, sometimes “bitterly” in their art, but eventually they also developed a close friendship. After they graduated from Parson’s, they decided to get married and create art as a team. They became involved in book illustration through the science fiction writer Harlan Ellison, who asked them to illustrate some of his books. After that, they created the cover art for a series of science fiction books for adults called the Ace Science Fiction Specials. Eventually, they started to do illustrations for children’s books. Eventually the Dillons became so well known that another writer named Byron Preiss even wrote a book about them in 1981 called The Art of Leo and Diane Dillon. They still live in New York City, and have one son named Lee who is also a talented artist.
The Dillons say they create art that represents both of their heritages and want to represent children from all types of backgrounds because when they grew up, there weren’t many children’s books for children with heritage that was not European. Leo is of African descent and his family immigrated from Trinidad, while Diane is of European descent and was born in the United States. Their different backgrounds have combined to create unique and stunning artwork. African influences can be seen in much of their art, but there is also a classical European fantasy element in much of their work as well. Because they experiment with different styles and mediums, it can sometimes be difficult to classify their artistic style, although certain qualities (facial features and sometimes surreal juxtaposition of images) make their art distinctive. Many examples of their art seem to have an otherworldly, fantastical quality while also reflecting traditional or tribal influences at the same time.
The Dillons have a very strong artistic vision and say they want people to take away some important ideas from their art. One main idea is that people of all races and cultures have a lot in common and experience the same things. The Dillons believe that no matter what kind of differences people have on the surface, underneath we all share certain similarities. The other main idea the Dillons want to express is that art in all its forms has been important throughout history and has inspired people for thousands of years. They want to show how much they appreciate artists of the past and also hope that their art inspires others to do the same.
They describe the process of working together and compromising as producing better art than either of them would create alone. They refer to the art they create together as being done by “the third artist” in that it is a creative force that is part of both of them, but also separate. The Dillons are so much of a team that they say when they are finished with an art piece, it is impossible to tell who illustrated what part! That is because they pass the artwork back and forth between them, each adding onto the other’s ideas. Since 1957, they have illustrated books, posters, album covers, and other media together. They are the only artists to win two consecutive Caldecott Medals, for Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears: A West African Tale by Verna Aardema in 1975 and Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions by Margaret Musgrove in 1976. Leo Dillon was also the first African-American to win a Caldecott Medal. In addition to the Caldecott, they have won five New York Times best illustrated book awards, multiple Coretta Scott King Honors and Awards, the Society of Illustrators Gold Medal, and many other awards and distinctions for their illustrations.
Sometimes the Dillons write their own stories to illustrate. However, they say they prefer to illustrate stories written by other people. Some other famous examples of their artwork can be seen on their covers for Earth Mother by Ellen Jackson (2005), a 1994 edition of The Narnia Chronicles by C.S. Lewis, a 1983 edition of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, and To Everything There is a Season: Verses from Ecclesiates (1998). They also illustrated a number of titles by Virginia Hamilton, including The People Could Fly, The Girl Who Spun Gold, and Her Stories. Other recent works include Mansa Musa: The Lion of Mali by Kephra Burns (2001), Two Little Trains by Margaret Wise Brown (2003), and Between Heaven and Earth: Bird Tales from Around the World by Howard Norman (2004). In 2009 they illustrated Mama Says: A Book of Love for Mothers and Sons by Rob D. Walker and The Goblin and the Empty Chair by Mem Fox.
Selected Titles for Children Illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon
1970 The Ring in the Prairie by John Bierhorst
1972 Honey, I Love by Eloise Greenfield
1974 Whirlwind Is a Ghost Dancing by Natalia Maree Belting
1974 Songs and Stories from Uganda by W. Moses Serwadda
1974 The Third Gift by Jan R. Carew
1975 The Hundred Penny Box by Sharon Bell Mathis
1975 Song of the Boat by Lorenz B. Graham
1976 Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema
1977 Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions by Margaret Musgrove
1977 Who’s in Rabbit’s House: A Masai Tai by Verna Aardema
1980 Two Pair of Shoes by P.L. Travers
1980 Children of the Sun by Jan R. Carew
1983 A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
1985 Brother to the Wind by Mildred Pitts Walter
1989 The Color Wizard by Barbara Brenner
1990 The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks by Katherine Paterson
1990 Aïda by Leontyne Price
1991 The Race of the Golden Apples by Claire Martin
1991 Pish, Posh, Said Hieronymus Bosch by Nancy Willard
1992 Northern Lullaby by Nancy White Carlstrom
1993 The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Nancy Willard
1994 What Am I? by N.N. Charles
1995 Her Stories by Virginia Hamilton
1997 Sabriel by Garth Nix
1997 The Girl Who Dreamed Only Geese by Howard A. Norman
1998 To Everything There is a Season by Leo and Diane Dillon
1999 Wind Child by Shirley Rousseau Murphy
2000 The Girl Who Spun Gold by Virginia Hamilton
2000 20,000 League Under the Sea by Jules Verne
2001 Two Little Trains by Margaret Wise Brown
2001 Mansa Musa: The Lion of Mali by Khephra Burns
2002 Rap a Tap Tap: Here’s Bojangles—Think of That! by Leo and Diane Dillon
2003 One Winter’s Night by John Herman
2004 Where Have You Been? by Margaret Wise Brown
2004 Between Heaven and Earth: Bird Tales From Around the World by Howard A. Norman
2005 The People Could Fly by Virginia Hamilton
2005 Earth Mother by Ellen B. Jackson
2007 Mother Goose Numbers on the Loose by Leo and Diane Dillon
2007 Jazz on a Saturday Night by Leo and Diane Dillon
2009 Mama Says: A Book of Love for Mothers and Sons by Rob D. Walker
2009 The Goblin and the Empty Chair by Mem Fox
The Third Artist: Collaborative Art Activity Inspired by Leo and Diane Dillon
Objective: Students will work together to collaboratively create a new cover for one of the picture books illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. They will summarize the plot of a picture book illustrated by the Dillons, and share their illustrations and summaries in a jigsaw activity.
Grades: 3-6
Lesson Summary: This lesson could be done in the library or in collaboration with the art teacher. Introduce the artists Leo and Diane Dillon and their collaborative approach to illustration to the class. Share their feeling that working together, they produce something that neither of them could have produced alone, and their idea of the “third artist” as a result of their teamwork.
Divide the class into groups with picture books that can be read by the students independently. Because there is such a range of books illustrated by the Dillons, there are enough titles to differentiate for many reading levels. Tell the students that after reading the book, they will create a new cover for the book with a partner, taking turns adding details to their illustration until the new cover has been completed. They will also write a short summary of the book they have read and will share it with the rest of the class in a “jigsaw” activity. After this activity is completed, the covers and summaries can be displayed either in the library or elsewhere in the school.
After the activity, students should reflect on the experience of creating an illustration together. The following questions could be used for discussion:
What was positive about creating an illustration collaboratively?
What were some challenges of creating an illustration collaboratively?
Do you think you and your partner did a better illustration together than you would have independently?
What did this experience teach you about collaborative work?
What do you think the Dillons would want you to learn from working together?
Works Cited
National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature: Leo and Diane Dillon
Steven Kellogg is the illustrator of over 100 books and author of 30 of those books! It is no surprise then that he has been drawing for almost all his life. He does not remember any one person or thing that made him want to start drawing; he just remembers that he always loved it. As a kid he drew all the time. To earn money for his art supplies, he would do odd jobs in the neighborhood such as mowing lawns ad gardening. He even went door to door trying to sell his artwork to buy more art supplies. When he was eight he got his first oil painting set, which he didn’t like at first because the colors dried so slow. He kept practicing with it and soon found himself creating hundreds of landscapes with this new found material. Steven loved animals as a kid and still does now. He would read magazines such as national Geographic ad pretend he was on assignment to draw pictures of wild animals for the magazine. One of the things Steven liked most about drawing, was creating stories with his pictures. He would entertain his two younger sisters by making up stories and scribbling pictures to go along with the story. They called this activity “Telling Stories on Paper. Steven thinks that these early activities helped him with the work he does today, which is to combine verbal and visual elements (words and pictures) while turning the pages of a book. One thing that Steven remembers worrying about as a child is having a job that he loved. In the neighborhood where he grew up, he would watch people go to and from work every day and a lot of times they did not look happy. It bothered him that some day he might have to spend every day in a place he hated, doing boring things he didn’t like to do. As he got older he realized that wasn’t necessarily true and that people can make choices to make a living doing something you like to do. The first step Steven says is knowing yourself, and making choices about what want to do. For him, it was to keep up drawing and writing throughout his school years. Many teachers encouraged him along the way and he often tells students that he remembers one in particular, Mr. Sheldon who encouraged him to attend the Rhode Island School of Design for college. He also had a chance to study in Italy when he was in college. The beautiful artwork of that country convinced him that he wanted to make his living as an artist. Steven job as illustrator takes many forms. For some books he provides the drawings for a story another author has created, including stories that have bee around for years. In some of his books he presents factual information about numbers, space ad other things kids like to learn about. In others books, he writes the story himself creating the plot and characters, although he will tell you sometimes the characters “speak to him” and help him write the story. Steven has many famous characters that he has created, that appear in his books. Steven likes to create characters that he would like to get to know better. He likes to give his characters larger than life proportions so they jump out of the book at you. He thinks of a book as a living thing and once he creates a character, he feels the character leads the story. Marvelossisimo the Magician is the star of How Much is a Million, a book that has been helping kids understand large numbers for over 20 years. Marvelossisimo returns in If You Made a Million to teach about money. One of Steven’s favorite things to draw is still animals. He has written and illustrated several stories about Pinkerton, a playful Great Dane. The first was A Rose for Pinkerton written in 1981. Pinkerton has had many more adventures in Pinkerton, Behave!,Prehistoric Pinkerton, and a Penguin Pup for Pinkerton. The character of Pinkerton is based on one of the five Great Danes Steven has lived with over the years…named Pinkerton. Steven also has illustrated several tall tales including Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyon and Pecos Bill. He likes tall tales for many reasons including the fact that they are full of humor ad outrageous characters. He loves to make children laugh. When Steven illustrates a book that another author has written he makes sure to work closely with the author to create a character that is true to what the author had in mind Is Your Mama a Llama is one of his famous books illustrated for another author named Debra Guarino. Eglebert the Elephant is a book he illustrated for Tom Paxton and is one of his top five favorites. Steven has used a number of materials to create his illustrations such as colored inks, watercolors, acrylic paints and different types of pencils. He doesn’t really have a favorite medium but tries to pick which material he thinks will best express the feeling or mood he wants for the illustration. When he sits down to work he sets his workspace up with all his materials around him so he doesn’t have to stop and search for a certain item. He does his work on the top floor of an old farmhouse where he has plenty of room to spread out and work on a lot of different project at once. Steven describes his style as giving a lot of thought to the content, placemat and shape of the visual details that help to move the story forward. He likes the pictures and the words to work together, each taking part in telling the story. What advice does Steven Kellogg have to students who want to follow in his footsteps? He says “I would tell them to read as many books as possible, think how the stories move and make them feel. They should write as much as they can about their ideas and feelings. To become an illustrator, they should observe, practice and create characters that can come to life. As an author/illustrator, they should make sure that their pictures blend and combine well with the text.” TEACHING WITH STEVEN KELLOG There are a number of different ways a Library Media Specialist can use a study of Steven Kellogg with students. TALL TALES Read aloud several of Steven Kellogg’s Tall Tales. Have students identify which parts of the stories are exaggerations and which ones make them laugh. Do the pictures make the story funnier? Have students create a tall tale of their own individually or in groups with illustrations. TELLING STORIES ON PAPER Steven Kellogg enjoys telling students about an activity he loved as a child which he calls “Telling Stories on Paper”. This is an excellent exercise for students in grades 4-6. Students will work as partners with one student narrating a story while the partner sketches an illustration. For younger grades writing prompts can be used. PLOT SEQUENCE As an illustrator, Steven Kellogg emphasizes the importance of illustrations moving the story along in a picture book. Using one of the more simpler works of Steven Kellogg, students will create a timeline of main events in the story. For each event, the students will tell about the features of an illustration depicting that event and share how it enhances the story. WHAT DO YOU SEE? Steven Kellogg’s illustrations are extremely and add a lot to the written words on the page. Have students work in groups of two and assign each one a Steven Kellogg book. Have each group share five details/ideas they see on the page that they would not have discovered if they only read the words. WORKS OF STEVEN KELLOGG
BIOGRAPHY FOR AUDIENCE OF CHILDREN: Today we have a very special guest speaking for us. She is an internationally famous children’s book author and illustrator. She has written and illustrated over 130 books and she grew up right here in Boston! She grew up in Cambridge, to be exact, but currently lives in Carnation, Washington and art is most definitely in her blood. Her mother was an artist and her father was an architect. She grew up lingering in her mother’s art studio, loving the sounds, smells and sights. She never had a doubt as to what she would do with her life. Going even further back, her great-grandfather was a very famous American painter named William Morris Hunt. She was surrounded by art of all kinds when she was growing up and her family taught her how to truly appreciate all of it. She wasn’t born with the name Demi, in fact her original name is Charlotte Dumaresq Hunt. At one point in her life she was half the size of her sister: her father called her Demi (which means half) and she has been going by it ever since! She has studied art all over the world and even spent two years in India doing so! She has been most influenced by Chinese art, however, and for every illustration she works on she uses what she calls “the four Chinese treasures”: a Chinese paintbrush, ink, an ink-stone, and paper. Sometimes she even paints on silk! She loves using strong, vivid, beautiful colors and enjoys telling and retelling stories from all over the world, from many cultures, and many religions. Can you believe that she paints all of her illustrations from scratch? She never does a rough draft or sketches things out first! She feels the painting inside of her and merely puts it on paper as she goes along. Let’s hear more from her about her wonderful art and her wonderful books. Here’s Demi!
BACKGROUND(to answer other questions not answered in above biography): Demi has, as mentioned, illustrated over 130 children’s books, but among the most representative of her philosophy, interests, and art are Buddha, Muhammad,Gandhi, The Stonecutter, Firebird,The Empty Pot, and OneGrain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale. Her style is intricate, colorful, and clearly influenced by Chinese, Indian, and Middle Eastern art. She prefers to illustrate biographies of important spiritual figures, folktales, legends and tales from different cultures. One unique aspect of her art is that she likes to use gold leaf foil to accentuate her drawings; it was used most aptly in Muhammad, where she used it to represent the Prophet Muhammad without drawing his image (as this is forbidden in Islam). When illustrating tales, legends, or biographies representative of other cultures or philosophies, she is always sensitive in doing so. Children can learn a great deal not only from the way she chooses to illustrate her books and tell her stories, but also from the author’s notes. For example, in Muhammad, she explains her use of the gold leaf and the reasons for it as well as sharing with readers how her art was influenced by Islamic culture. Muhammad is not the only book in which she allows the culture about which she is writing to influence her artwork; the influence of her world travels shines through in all of her art. She is married to a man named Tze-si Jesse Huang who has told her many folktales he heard in his childhood in China. Both The Empty Pot and The Magic Boat are based on his stories. She works in many different mediums including watercolor, collage, serigraph, and even textile. I find her books to be almost mesmerizing; her text is simple, sensitive, and quite elegant. Her illustrations are vibrant, ornate, and sometimes have an other worldly feel to them. As mentioned above, she never drafts her illustrations. To her, “feeling is first.” This kind of instinct and intuition is evident in every book she illustrates.
LESSON: A LMS can use the book One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale to help students develop number sense. The main character in the book essentially dupes the rich and greedy raja out of his storehouse of rice by making an agreement with the raja that he should reward her for a good deed by giving her one grain of rice the first day of the month and every day after he would have to double the amount from the day before. The raja thinks this will not be much to give, but discovers by the end of the 30th day that keeping his word means giving the girl more than one billion grains of rice. It’s best to use this lesson with 4-5th graders who can grasp the concept of how truly large this amount might be as they begin to figure it out themselves.
The LMS will read the book up until the point when the girl (Rani) proposes her plan to the raja. My book does not have page numbers so simply read up to the following quote, “Today, you will give me a single grain of rice. Then, each day for thirty days you will give me double the rice you gave me the day before. Thus, tomorrow, you will give me two grains of rice, the next day four grains of rice, and so on for thirty days.” After this point, ask the students for predictions. Do they think this will be a large amount of rice or a small amount? How much do you think Rani will end up with by the end of the month? Write their predictions on a piece of chart paper. Break the students up into several groups and give them a copy of a calendar with thirty days. Write “one grain of rice” on the first page. Tell them they will be given 15 minutes to try to figure out just how much rice the raja will receive. By the end of this time, call the groups back together and ask for their final estimates. Make it clear that it is okay if groups couldn’t come up with an exact number—this is an excellent opportunity for students to make estimates and predictions that are more grounded than before. After writing their final estimates and/or calculations on the chart paper, continue the story and read to the end. Demi’s illustrations do a nice job making it clear how quickly the rice multiplies. Discuss with the students why Rani was able to trick the raja so easily. You can extend this lesson if you have extra time to talk about estimates and predictions if she had said he had to triple the amount of rice every day. Quadruple? Etc.
SOURCES: Baltimore Public Library. “Demi: Author and Illustrator.” BCPLOnline.org. N.p., Apr. 1998. Web. 8 Oct. 2010. <http://www.bcplonline.org/kidspage/demi.html>. Demi. Buddha. NY: Henry Holt and Co. , 1997. N. pag. Print. - - -. The Empty Pot. NY: Henry Holt and Co., 2007. N. pag. Print. - - -. Firebird. NY: Owlet Paperbacks, 2005. N. pag. Print. - - -. Gandhi. NY: Margaret K. McElderry, 2001. N. pag. Print. - - -. The Magic Boat. NY: Henry Holt and Company, 1990. N. pag. Print. - - -. Muhammad. NY: Margaret K. McElderry, 2003. N. pag. Print. - - -. One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale. NY: Scholastic, 1997. N. pag. Print. - - -. The Stonecutter. NY: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1995. N. pag. Print. Papertigers.org. “Demi.” Papertigers.org. N.p., 2008. Web. 11 Oct. 2010. <http://www.papertigers.org/gallery/Demi/index.html>.
Jerry Pinkney Illustrator Study Presented by Michelle Muscatell October 24, 2010 LBS 803
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Biography:
Jerry Pinkney won the 2010 Caldecott Medal for his illustrated adaptation of the Aesop fable “The Lion and the Mouse.” Prior to this, he was awarded five Caldecott Honors. He also won the Cpretta Scott King Award five times and the Coretta Scott Honor three times. Finally, he was nominated for the Hans Christian Anderson Award.
Jerry Pinkney was born on December 22, 1939 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has five siblings - two brothers and three sisters - and is the only one with no middle name. When his mother was asked about it, she would say “‘Jerry is enough. He’ll make something of that name, I just know it.” And know it she did.
His parents encouraged him and his siblings to draw. He’s not sure why because there were no artists in the family or neighborhood, but he thinks it was just to keep everybody busy. There was no television in their house.
In elementary school he struggled with learning. He was later diagnosed with dyslexia. Yet, his artistic talent was recognized and encouraged. And, despite his dyslexia he succeeded in school. He later won a scholarship to the Philadelphia College of Art, after being discouraged from applied because he was African American. He became a commercial artist after graduating from college and illustrated his first children’s book,The Adventures of Spider , in 1964.
He is married with four children.
Jerry’s favorite book is also his work in progress. He says “my strongest feelings about a particular book are tied to the experience of creating it.”
For advice to kids who want to be authors or illustrators he says that the most important thing to do is to read. You need to be able to interpret what you see, read and hear.
Artistic Style:
Jerry’s medium of choice is watercolor. But, he doesn’t call himself a watercolorist. He says he’s “really a drawer at heart.” He chose a transparent medium because the line is so important to his work. The line can play it’s role in the illustration with watercolor.
Jerry Pinkney’s Illustrated Children’s Books:
Three Little Kittens, 2010 Sweethearts of Rhythm, 2009 The Lion & The Mouse, 2009 The Moon Over Star, 2008 Little Red Riding Hood, 2007 The All-I’ll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll, 2007 Ain’t Nobody a Stranger to Me, 2007 The Little Red Hen, 2006 The Old African, 2005 God Bless the Child, 2003 Noah’s Ark, 2002 The Nightingale, 2002 Goin’ Someplace Special, 2001 Albidaro & the Mischievious Dream, 2000 Aasop’s Fables, 2000 Journeys with Eiljah, 1999 The Ugle Ducking, 1999 Uncle Remus: The Complete Tales, 1999 The Little Match Girl, 1989 Black Cowboy, Wild Horses, 1998 Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, 1997 The Hired Hand, 1997 Sam and the Tigers, 1996 Minty:A Story of a Young Harrie Tubman,1996 The Jungle Book, 1995 Tanya’s Reunion, 1995 John Henry, 1994 Sunday Outing, 1994 The Last Tales of Uncle Remus, 1994 A Starlit Somersault Downhill, 1993 New Shows for Silva, 1993 I Want to Be, 1993 David’s Songs, 1993 Back Home, 1992 Drylongso, 1992 The Man with His Heart in a Bucket, 1991 In For Winter, Out For Spring, 1991 Pretend You’re a Cat, 1990 Home Place, 1990 Further Tales of Uncle Remus, 1990 Turtle in July, 1989 The Talking Eggs, 1989 Rabbit Makes a Monkey of Lion, 1989 More Tales of Uncle Remus, 1988 Mirandy and Brother Wind, 1988 The Green Lion of Zion Street, 1988 Wild Wild Sunflower Child Anna, 1987 The Tales of Uncle Remus, 1987 Strange Animals of the Sea, 1987 Half a Moon and One Whole Star, 1986 A Patchwork Quilt, 1985 Monster Myths of Ancient Greece, 1981 Apples on a Stick: Folklore of Black Children, 1981 Jahdu, 1980 Count Your Fingers African Style, 1980 Tonweya and the Eagles, and other Lakota Tales, 1979 Childtimes: A Three Generation Memoir, 1979 Tales from Africa, 1978 Mary McLeod Bethune, 1977 Jl-Nongo-Nongo Means Riddle, 1977 Yagua Days, 1975 Song of the Trees, 1975 Roots of Time, 1974 The Great Minu, 1974 Mickey and Minny, 1973 Kasho and the Twin Flutes, 1973 JD, 1972 Femi and the Old Grandaddle, 1972 More Adventures of Spider, 1971 The King’s Ditch: A Hawaiian Tale,1971 The Twin Witches of Fingle Fu, 1969 The Porcupine and the Tiger, 1969 Juano and the Wonderful Fresh Fish, 1969 Homerhenry, 1969 Babushka and the Pig, 1969 Shoes, Pennies, and Rockets, 1968 Kostas the Rooser, 1968 Folktales and Fairytales of Africa, 1967 Even Tiny Ants Must Sleep, 1967 The Clock Museum 1967 The Beautiful Blue Jay and Other Tales of India, 1967 The Traveling Frog, 1966 A Book of Sizes and Shapes, 1966 A Year Around Book, 1965 This is Music, 1965 The Adventures of Spider: West African Folk Tales, 1964
Show students the illustrations in “The Lion and the Mouse”. Do not say anything. Do not let the students say anything. Just have them look at the illustrations. If they have a connection, or a comment, have them raise their hand silently and acknowledge it silently.
After looking through the book, close the book and ask the students what the story was about. Who are the characters? What is the storyline? Where is the setting? Finally, while looking at the illustrations, have students tell the story. This is when they can share any connections or comments to the illustrations.
This can be used with K-4. With fourth grade, as an extended activity, a discussion can be done about personification with fourth graders. What is personification and can you tell what the animals are feeling by looking at the illustrations?
Growing up in New Jersey, Brian Selznick was always drawing and building things. In his backyard at the edge of the woods, Brian constructed a “GI Joe Island” with fortresses, tree houses and roads. Brian Selznick didn’t play with GI Joe on his island very much; he was more interested in the actual building and constructing, but his major interest was drawing. His kindergarten teacher noted on his report card that he was a good artist.
Brian Selznick went to the Rhode Island Institute of Design and majored in illustration. People often admired his drawings and told him that he should illustrate children’s books, but Brian Selznick had no plans of becoming a children’s book illustrator. When he was in college he developed an interest in theater and even acted in some plays. He designed a set for one of the plays, and his set design was a huge hit. Brian Selznick decided that he would use his artistic abilities to become a set designer for the theater. He was ready to pursue his chosen career, but he did not get into the school at which he wanted to to study set design, so Brian Selznick decided to take some time off and do some travelling. During the time he spent travelling, Brian kept notebooks in which he drew and wrote stories.
After returning from his travelling, Brian Selznick realized that he loved drawing so very much and did want to be a children’s book illustrator. He didn’t know very much about children’s books, so he went looking for a job where he could learn about books. Brian Selznick saw a sign on the window of a bookstore looking for an experienced sales person who knew a lot about children’s books. He didn’t have much knowledge of children’s books, but he went in the store and interviewed for the job anyway. Brian Selznick’s lack of knowledge was clear to the manager, and the manager told him to go out and study and learn about children’s books and come back. Brian Selznick returned to the store and received the job after he had studied and increase his knowledge of children’s books. In addition to selling books while working at the bookstore, he also designed the window displays. Brian Selznick feels that his time spent creating the window displays has helped him with his illustrating career. When creating the window displays, he always had to make sure that his displays were clear and eye-catching. He learned everything he knows about children’s books while working at the bookstore. His job at the bookstore inspired him to create children’s books of his own. His first book, The Houdini Box, was published while he was still working at the bookstore. The Houdini Box was not originally meant to be a children’s book. It was a project that Brian Selznick had done for a class at school that he found in the closet and reworked into a children’s book.
Aside from his first book, The Houdini Box, Brian Selznick has illustrated other books he has written as well as many books by other authors. Brian Selznick’s own books include The Invention of Hugo Cabret, The Boy of a Thousand Faces, and The Robot King. Brian loves illustrating other authors’ books because those are stories he never would have thought of himself. Among the books that he has illustrated for other author’s are Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride, Riding Freedom, The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins, Walt Whitman: Words for America, When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson, Wingwalker, Frindle, The Doll People, The Meanest Doll in the World, and Runaway Dolls.
Brian Selznick has used different mediums in the books he has illustrated for children. In Wingwalker, the illustrations were done on unprimed watercolor paper with acrylic paints. In Frindle and The Invention of Hugo Cabret, the illustrations were done in pencil. In The Houdini Box, the illustrations are rendered in pen. Brian Selznick prefers to create small pencil drawings and enlarge those drawings for his illustrations because the open lines remind him of the black and white movies that he loved to watch so much as a child.
Brian Selznick does a lot of research before illustrating his books so that his illustrations are authentic and he has travelled extensively to research for his books. For Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride, he was in Washington, D.C. for six months, he spent time at Walt Whitman’s childhood home in West Hills, New York for Walt Whiman: Words for America, he travelled to England for The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins and went to Paris three times researching for The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Brian also reads a lot of books about the subjects he is illustrating and talks to experts about the subjects he is illustrating. When he starts to illustrate a book, he first goes through the book and underlines all of the descriptive text. It is important that any character descriptions provided by the author are matched by the illustrations. If the author has not described how a character looks, Brian Selznick has the freedom to illustrate the character as he sees the character. He feels that the page turns of a picture book are are a very important element of the story because they move the plot along and include the reader in the action, so he will read through the text of the story a decide where he wants the page turns to be. Brian Selznick then does his research and makes sketches. He will also use models to help with his illustrations. He will find someone who looks like the character he imagined and take photographs of the person. His research, sketches, and photographs are then used to produce his illustrations.
Brian Selznick has won many awards for his work. The Houdini Box won the 1993 Texas Bluebonnet Award and the Rhode Island Children’s Book Award. When Marian Sang won a 2003 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor and the 2004 Norman Sugarman Award for outstanding picture book biography. The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins was a 2002 Caldecott Honor Book and a 2002 Orbis Pictus Award Honor Book for Outstanding non-fiction. Walt Whitman: Words for America was named a 2004 New York Times Ten Best Illustrated book and received a Robert F. Sibert Honor in 2004 for most distinguished informational book for children. The Invention of Hugo Cabret won the 2008 Caldecott Medal and is currently being turned into a movie directed by Martin Scorsese.
Brian Selznick’s advice to children is to do what you love. If you want to be an artist, just paint, draw, or create sculpture. Use whatever medium gives you the most pleasure just create art as much as possible. Spend as much time around art as possible. Go to museums, read, and look at other artist’s work. Just as Brian Selznick has received inspiration from Remi Charlip, who wrote Fortunately, Arm in Arm, and Thirteen, which were some of Brian Selznick’s favorite books, and Maurice Sendak author of Where the Wild Things Are which Brian considers to be the best children’s book ever, maybe you will be inspired by your favorite author or illustrator.
Books Illustrated by Brian Selznick:
Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride by Pam Munoz Ryan
Barnyard Prayers by Laura Godwin
The Boy Who Longed For a Lift by Norma Farber
Dinosaurs of Water House Hawkings, The by Barbara Kerley
Doll Face Has a Party! by Pam Conrad
Doll People, The by Ann M. Martin
Dulcimer Boy, The by Tor Seidler
Frindel by Andrew Clements
Janitor’s Boy, The by Andrew Clements
The Landry News by Andrew Clements
Lunch Money by Andrew Clements
Marly’s Ghost by David Levithan
Meanest Doll in the World, The by Ann Martin
Nora’s Notes by Andrew Clements
Our House: Stories of Levittown by Pam Conrad
Report Card, The by Andrew Clements
Riding Freedom by Pam Munoz Ryan
Runaway Dolls, The by Ann Martin
School Story by Andrew Clements
Walt Whitmam: Words for America by Barbara Kerley
Week in the Woods, A by Andrew Clements
When Marian Sang: The True Recital by Pam Munoz Ryan
of Marian Anderson
Books Written and Illustrated by Brian Selznick:
The Houdini Box
The Boy of a Thousand Faces
The Robot King
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Lesson: Using Research to Create a Book Cover
Framework:Massachusetts English Language Arts Curriculum Framework Standard: 24.2 Identify and apply steps in conducting and reporting research:
Define the need for information and formulate open-ended research questions.
Initiate a plan for searching for information.
Locate resources.
Evaluate the relevance of the information.
Interpret, use, and communicate the information.
Grades: 3-4 Objective:This lesson will support the Language Arts Curriculum by utilizing Brian Selznick’s belief that illustrations are more authentic when he immerses himself in his subject matter by researching extensively. Time:2 hours Creating a Book Cover:
Students, as a class, will pretend that they are designing the cover of a book that tells the story of the school.
Students, as a class and assisted by the teacher, will create a table that lists objects or symbols and why those objects or symbols help tell the story of the school.
Students, working individually, will then select a historical figure or historical event.
Students, working individually, will research the figure or event and determine four symbols or objects that could be used on the cover of a book about that event or person.
Students, working individually, will draw, either by hand or using a painting program on the computer, a cover for a book about their event or person that incorporates the four symbols or objects they selected during their research
Students, working individually, will create a table listing the four object and the rationale for selecting them.
Assessment: Students will be assessed based on how many of the symbols/objects they have incorporated into their cover design and the accuracy of their rationale for selecting them.
Kerley, Barbara. The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins: An Illuminating History of Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins, Artist and Lecturer.New York: Scholastic Press, 2001.
Wells, Rosemary. Wingwalker. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 2002.
Tomie dePaola was born, Thomas Anthony dePaola, on September 15, 1934 in Meriden, CT. He lived there with his parents, Joseph and Florence, his brother, Joseph, and his sisters, Judie and Maureen. Tomie showed all the signs from the age of four that he wanted to become a writer and an illustrator. His mother loved books and read to him every day. Tomie would illustrate the stories she read. He loved stories of Greek and Roman Mythology, fairy tales, and comics. His parents encouraged both his love of writing and his work as an artist. They bought him art supplies and converted a space in their attic into a studio. By the age of ten, Tomie was writing books for his sisters’ birthdays and told anyone who asked that he wanted to write stories, draw pictures, and tap dance when he grew up. By age sixty-nine, Tomie will have accomplished all these dreams. Tomie’s childhood was filled with happy times and much storytelling and this has carried over into his stories. Tomie ‘s family was a strong influence on his writing. Many of his characters were based on his family members. His Italian grandmother was the inspiration for his book, Watch Out For Chicken Feet in Your Soup. His series known as 26 Fairmount Avenue books, which include 26 Fairmount Avenue, Here We All Are, and On My Way, were based on his childhood experiences.
During his school years, Tomie continued to draw and dance. His dancing partner, Carol Morrissey, and he performed around the Meriden area while they were in school. Tomie took art classes and his art could be seen in exhibitions, theater productions, posters and many other places. After he graduated from high school, Tomie went to Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. As he would tell you, he spent his four years “learning how to draw everything-tin cans, dogs, cats, horses, trees- and I practiced and practiced.” Once out of school, Tomie got by designing greeting cards and stage sets, and painting church murals. Many of his murals can be seen on the walls of Catholic churches and monasteries in New England. Some years later in 1965, Tomie got his first job illustrating a science book called Sound. Then about a year later, he authored and illustrated his first book, The Wonderful Dragon of Timlin. As of today, Tomie has illustrated over two hundred books and written stories for half of them. These include folktales, nursery rhymes, board books, religious books, chapter books, and much more. Tomie is also known as a caring and giving man who loves children and knows how to entertain people. Over the years, he has visited elementary schools, taught college classes, and traveled around the country on book tours. He even appeared on the television show, Barney. He is still writing and illustrating and has book projects scheduled for years ahead. Today he lives in New London, New Hampshire with his Airedale dog, Bronte and has renovated and converted a two hundred year-old barn into an art studio.
Tomie de Paola’s Style
Tomie de Paola is one of today's most highly respected and recognized names in children's literature. Both children and adults are charmed by his characters and artistic style. His illustrations are light hearted and fun and many are in the style of folk art. DePaola creates his artwork in a combination of watercolor, tempera, and acrylic paints.
Awards
Tomie dePaola has received many awards throughout his career. These include:
Caldecott Honor Award in 1976 for his picture book Strega Nona.
Boston Globe Horn Book Honor in 1982 for The Friendly Beasts: An Old English Christmas Carol.
Golden Kite Award in 1982 for Giorgio’s Village.
Golden Kite Award in 1987 for What the Mailman Brought.
Aesop Award in 1994 for Christopher, the Holy Giant.
Newbery Honor Award in 2000 for 26 Fairmont Avenue.
New Hampshire Governor’s Arts Award of Living Treasure in 1999 for his entire collection of work.
Southwest Book Award in 2000 from the Border Regional Library Association for Night of Las Posadas.
Using Books by Tomie de Paola in the School Library
Elementary SLMS can use books by Tomie de Paola to teach students how to examine the way an author creates a character, and how to use one's understanding of a character's personality and his or her behavior to make predictions about what will happen next in a story. Watch an interview of Tomie dePaola as he talks about his childhood and becoming an artist. Tomie’s Interview
SLMS Lessons Using Books by Tomie DePaola
Objective: Students will make a quilt by creating squares that tell something about them in pictures. Materials: The book, The Quilt Story by Tony Johnston and illustrated by Tomie dePaola, precut 8” squares of oak tag paper, colored pencils.
Procedure:
Tell the students that we will be reading a story of a pioneer girl who is traveling to a new home and something special that she takes with her.
Read The Quilt Story.
Discuss the importance of the quilt to the pioneer girl and how quilts were important to families during the era of the pioneers. Families today make quilts that become family heirlooms.
Tell the students that they will be making a class quilt and each student will contribute a square.
Have the students take an 8” square and decorate it with pictures of themselves or things that mean a lot to them. These can be hobbies, sports, music, a family pet, their family members, or other pictures. They will add their first name.
Squares will be attached side by side to a large piece of butcher paper to create a paper quilt. Display the finished quilt.
SLMS can use The Art Lesson By Tomie dePaola as an introduction to the Paint Program on the computer in order to integrate reading with technology. Objective: Students will learn how to use the Paint Program on the computer. Materials: The Art Lesson by Tomie DePaola. Procedure: · Read The Art Lesson. · Tell the students that they are going to have an art lesson using the computer. · Students will open up the paint program and using the tools will create a picture of their choice. Tell the students that they need to write a sentence to go with their picture. · Print the pictures and have the students take them home.
SLMS can use The Cloud Book by Tomie dePaola as an introduction to a lesson on weather. Students can learn the different types of clouds, cumulus, cirrus, and nimbus clouds as seen in the book and learn what type of weather to expect when those clouds are present in the sky. Students can create a picture of each with weather conditions along with a description of the cloud and weather.
Illustrator Study: Brian Liesby Lauren Brian Lies (pronounced “Lees” as in “keys”) is a children’s book illustrator who lives in Massachusetts. He is coming to our school to talk about illustrating books. Brian was born in 1963 in New Jersey and has loved nature, writing, and drawing all of his life. As a child he loved to draw but did not think he was good enough to become an artist. Brian says that as a child he made the mistake of thinking you had to be born with a talent to be great at something. However, he says he has learned that you can learn the skills that you need to become great. Brian has practiced drawing and developed the skills of a great artist.
Brian Lies prefers drawing animals and landscapes. He “tries to keep the design of his animal characters as naturalistic as possible despite their often human-like behavior” (Official). Brian has illustrated animals in the following books: Deep in the Swamp, Lucky Duck, Zoo Train, Spy Hops and Belly Flops, Dinosaur Footprints, Dinosaurs, Popcorn, See the Yak Yak, the Midnight Fridge, Where are he Bears, George and the Dragon Word, the Finklehopper Frog series, and the Flatfoot Fox series. He has also both written and illustrated some books, such as Bats at the Library, Bats at the Ballgame, Bats at the Beach, Hamlet and the Magnificent Sandcastle, and Hamlet and theEnormous Chinese Dragon Kite. All five of the books he has written and illustrated have been on the New York Times bestseller list, and these books are representative of his best work. Bats at the Library was named Best New Picture Book in the 2009 Indies Choice Book Awards.
Brian Lies has a very detailed, artistic style. He is able to create whole new worlds through the rich details of his pictures. He strengthens the characterization of characters by drawing details of setting, clothing, facial expressions, and body language. According to Brian, “I try to really see the world the characters inhabit, feel it as they feel it, and fill it with things which would make sense to them…as an illustrator you try to think like the character you’re illustrating, you can come up with the personal clutter which that character might collect, and present a fuller understanding of him or her” (Polydoros).
His preferred medium is acrylic painting. Acrylics are fast-drying paints that provide bold colors, subtle lighting, depth, and allow the artist to paint over his mistakes. According to his official web site, Brian says that the thing he likes most about writing and drawing is “the idea that I can make up a story and if I do it well, it will actually seem real to some readers.” Brian says he reads a lot because it’s important to exercise his imagination. He also researches for his illustrations. When he drew the library in Bats at the Library, he visited the actual library that he knew as a child to take photographs and make sketches.
The books Brian has written are rhythmical and contain rhymes. In his book, Bats at the Library, Brian creates detailed acrylic paintings on full and double-page spreads. He also uses the style of chiaroscuro in his illustrations, which is to strongly contrast light and dark to create the appearance of depth. The story takes place at night so lots of blue and brown colors are used, and the last page is a lighter blue as it becomes day (the bats’ bedtime). The illustrations are filled with humorous bat and human-like behavior, such as the wearing of glasses by the older bats, hungry bats looking at books about moths to eat, bats laughing while photocopying themselves on the photocopy machine, bats playing in the castles of pop-up books, and bats hanging upside down during story time. The bats imagine themselves in the books being read, and detailed illustrations show bats in familiar stories, such as Little Red Riding Hood, Peter Rabbit, the Sword in the Stone, and Alice in Wonderland. When you read a story with Brian Lies’ illustrations, you will see how his detailed illustrations bring the story to life.
Brian Lies activity Target audience: Kindergarten- 3rd grade The school librarian will read Bats at the Library to students. Since the bats in the book imagine themselves in their favorite books, the librarian will have students draw a picture of themselves doing something in one of their favorite books. Then, the school librarian will have students share their pictures and display the pictures in the library in preparation for Brian’s visit. Works Cited Bateman, Donna M. Deep in the Swamp. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge, 2007. Print. Lies, Brian. Bats at the Library. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008. Print. Lies, Brian. Hamlet and the Enormous Dragon Kite. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. Print. Lies, Brian. Official Website of Children's Book Author/Illustrator Brian Lies. 2010. Web. 24 Oct 2010. Polydoros, Lori. "Brian Lies - SCBWI." Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators., 2010. Web. 24 Oct 2010.
by Heather Vandermillen
Did you ever hear the expression “a picture's worth a thousand words”? It means that instead of saying 1000 words about something you could say nothing and show someone a picture and they would get the same idea. Well, if you look at books by the illustrator, David Wiesner you might think a picture is worth 10,000 words or 100,000. There is so much going on in each picture.
Wiesner was born in 1956. As a kid growing up in Bridgewater, New Jersey he was always interested in art. At school he was known as “the kid who could draw”. His father saw his interest and gave him a big, oak, drafting table where he could draw. This became David's favorite spot to imagine and create. He also spent time in the library studying famous artist like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Eventually he learned about the surrealists like Dali and Magritte whose paintings are often bizarre and otherworldly. David Wiesner used to do funny experiments with art as a kid, like attaching a paint brush to a turtle and having him walk across a big sheet of paper or filling squirt guns with paint and squirting them with paint . In fact Wiesner says some of the ideas he has in his books go back to when he was a kid. He went through a period where he liked to sketch vegetables. He drew a picture of a space ship/pepper in the 8th or 9th grade. As an adult he used this idea to create the book June 29, 1999, which is about a science fair project that leads to flying vegetables.
Growing up he was also fascinated with flight; you can see that in his books Tuesday with its flying frogs and the flying pigs in his version of The Three Pigs. Wiesner also loved to visit the ocean and was very interested in sea creatures. His inspiration for his books Sector 7 and Flotsam were his yearly vacations on the Jersey Shore where he developed an interest in the sea and its creatures.
Wiesner went to art school at the Rhodes Island School of design where he studied to be an illustrator. One of his professors was David McCauley who created the books Cathedral, Pyramid and Castle that show you how these structures are designed. McCauley, taught Wiesner not only how to improve his art but how to tap into his imagination and be creative. When Wiesner first started working as an illustrator he worked on books that other people wrote. The first book he illustrated was Honest Andrew by author Gloria Skurzynski. A few years later, his editor encouraged him to work on his own ideas. Eventually he and his wife adapted the fairy tale the The Loathsome Dragon. Next, he created Free Fall and that book won a Caldecott Honor. He mostly works on his own books now.
It can take David Wiesner a couple of years to finish one book. He starts out with preliminary sketches and keeps adding to them and changing them. His works contains many imaginary worlds ; sometimes he builds models of his ideas so he can draw them correctly. When he has everything drawn out just as he wants it he paints the final illustrations in watercolors.
Many of David Wieners books have few or no words. He was inspired by silent films and movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey that have very little dialog. He loved seeing how he could tell a story without words. He was also a fan of comic books. Flotsam is a good example of how he uses both cinematic (movie) and comic book techniques. Since there are no words in this book the pictures have to tell the story. Wiesner includes small frame pictures, like in comic books, to help show how the plot progresses.
Wiesner was also a fan of Mad Magazine as a kid and this is also clear in his work. He really likes to shake things up with his books, to make you look at things in a different way. In his version of The Three Pigs you think you are reading the same old story about the pigs who build houses of straw, wood and brick and the wolf who tries to blow them down. But instead he has the pigs escape out of the story into the white space of the book. They take one of the illustrations and fold it into an airplane and fly across an empty white page. Eventually they visit other picture books where they befriend a cat and a dragon and bring them both home. Wiesner said he had been playing around with this idea of characters breaking out of their story, but it took him a while to figure out how to develop it.
I've had for years this idea of characters leaving a story and moving into the space behind the story. You know, having the entire format of the book collapse and leave them standing in this sort of nether world. And when I began to seriously try to put a story to that concept, I had to figure out, well, if the reader is going to start in one story and leave it, I kind of have to start off with something that they're going to recognize. And the most recognizable stories I could think of were Goldilocks or The Three Pigs. (Bodett, Conversations with David Wiesner).
Wiesner also feels that drawing like writing needs a lot of editing. You really have to think about where the readers eyes are going to fall and you want to make sure they are drawn towards the most important parts of the story so that it flows from one picture to the next. Just like when you write you want to have detail but you don't want to distract the reader from the main point. He often uses light to attract the viewer's attention to a certain element of the illustration.
David Wiesner's hard work and attention to detail has made him one of the best known and respected children's books illustrator. The Caldecott Medal is an award given to the best picture book of the year. He has one this three times, for Tuesday in 1992, The Three Pigs in 2002, and Flotsam in 2007. And as I mentioned before, he won a Caldecott Honor for Free Fall in 1989.
David Wiesner lives outside of Philadelphia, PA. His wife, Kim Kahng, is a surgeon and they have two children, Kevin and Jaime.
Lesson Plan for the SLMS
Gr. 1-3
This lesson plan is designed to support the writing curriculum by helping children understand what makes an engaging story.
Teachers often say “show me don't tell me.” An interesting sentence is one that the reader can draw a picture about. Instead of “I played with my toys.” we want students to write “Yesterday at Sam's, we built a leggo town and then had godzilla knock down all the buildings.”
In this lesson we reverse the process so children can start with a visual image and form an interesting description. Read one of the David Wiesner's books to the class. Point out which parts of the illustrations are main elements of the story that move the plot forward and which elements of the pictures are details that round out the story and give it flavor. Discuss the idea of showing vs. telling in writing. Now go through page by page with the class and write text that both focuses on the plot while including details. Work as a group to come up with 2 or 3 descriptive sentences for each page that both convey plot while adding flavor.
This lesson plan is designed to help students understand point of view.
Gr. 3-5
Teaching children the importance of point of view can be tricky. David Wiesner's books visual focus can help children see the importance of perspective.
Take one of the minor characters in one of David Wiesner's books. Ask children to write a paragraph telling the story or part of the story from this characters point of view. How would the man who wakes up and sees frogs flying by in the book Tuesday tell this story. How about the first boy who had the camera in Flotsam. What is his life like? What happened to the camera? Or did he intentionally throw it in the ocean? Why? Or, did something happen to the camera? What?
Modeling:
This lesson plan uses art to encourage children to examen books more carefully.
David Wiesner often creates a model of his ideas before he draws them. Pick a page from one of Wiesner's books with lots of details. Break the class into groups of 5 or 6 and have them create a model using clay, paper, and small toys. This would be a good project to do in combination with the art teacher.
Bibliography:
As Author/Illustrator
As Illustrator
Sources for this book talk:
Bodett, Tom. “Conversation with David Wiesner”. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Web. 14 Oct. 2010. http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/authors/wiesner/interviews/inter.shtml
Caroff, Susan F., and Elizabeth B. Moje. "A conversation with David Wiesner: 1992 Caldecott Medal winner. (children's author)." The Reading Teacher 46.4 (1992): 284+. General Reference Center Gold. Web. 14 Oct. 2010.
“David Wiesner, interviewed in his studio in Fox Point, Wisconsin on August 6, 2001.” Teaching Books. Web Oct. 2010. http://www.teachingbooks.net/content/Wiesner_trans.pdf
"David Wiesner." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 14 Oct. 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Wiesner
Giorgis, Cyndi, and Nancy J. Johnson. "Interview with the 2002 Caldecott Medal winner, David Wiesner." The Reading Teacher 56.4 (2002): 400+. General Reference Center Gold. Web. 14 Oct. 2010
Macaulay, David. "David Weisner." The Horn Book Magazine 68.4 (1992): 423+. General Reference Center Gold. Web. 14 Oct. 2010.
Silvey, Anita. "Pigs in space: David Wiesner's latest creation soars beyond the boundaries of conventional picture books." School Library Journal 47.11 (2001): 48+. General Reference Center Gold. Web. 14 Oct. 2010.
Image borrowed from: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2409/2491824314_1cc8cbfa21.jpg (October 20, 2010).
Illustrator Study - Lois Ehlert
by Mia RLois Ehlert was born in 1934 in Beaver Dan, Wisconsin which is in the north central part of the United States. She has a younger sister and brother and nieces and nephews. When she was growing up her parents encouraged her interest in nature and art. They gave her pieces of fabric and wood and a table in a special place to work on her projects. After she graduated from high school she attended art school in Milwaukee which is on the west coast of Lake Michigan.
Ms Ehlert has won many awards and honors for her work. In 1990 Color Zoo was a Caldecott Honor Book. Books such as Growing Vegetable Soup and Feathers for Lunch have won awards because they are such good science books.
Ms Ehlert loves books. She has books everywhere in her house and still she goes to libraries to borrow books and to bookstores to buy more books. Her first job after college was as a graphic artist. In the 1960s she began to also illustrate children’s books. The illustrator of a book is the person who creates the artwork. At first she illustrated books written by other people. The publisher would send her a book, and she would decide if it was something that she would enjoy illustrating and how she would illustrate it.
In the mid 1980s Ms Ehlert learned how to make handmade books and this was the beginning of her writing and illustrating books. The very first book that she illustrated and wrote was Growing Vegetable Soup.
Most of her books have something to do with nature. They might be about cats or birds, squirrels or snowballs, leaves and vegetables. She takes her ideas for her books from nature, from taking long walks and looking around her and noticing everything. She also collects things that she notices such as leaves. When she has decided on a theme for a book, she studies. For her counting book Fish Eyes, trips to the aquarium to sketch the fish were part of how she learned about fish to prepare for making the book.
Sometimes Ms. Ehlert finds it hard to decide on topic for a book. Nuts to You! came about because a squirrel got into her house through a broken screen. It is the story of how she got the squirrel out of her house. She is very careful to make sure that the objects in her pictures are the correct size. She does things like measure her sister’s cat’s head, legs and tail to make sure that she was drawing the proportions correctly. She uses the actual article as a model when she can. While she was making Eating the Alphabet she went to the grocery store regularly to buy the most perfect examples of the fruits and vegetables she was using. The store clerks knew what letter she was illustrating by which fruits and vegetables she was buying!
For Ms. Ehlert, the drawings come before the words when she is making a book. She makes small, rough sketches of the illustrations and words of the book page by page first and then she makes a “dummy” book. A “dummy” book looks like a book but it only shows where the artwork and text will be placed on the pages and the artwork will not all be completed, it may only be sketched. This is what is sent to publishers to see if they want to publish the book.
Ms Ehlert makes her illustrations using an art style called collage. A collage is defined as an artistic composition made of various materials (as paper, cloth, or wood) glued on a surface. Ms Ehlert uses very strong, bold, vibrant colors to make her illustrations practically pop off the page! In some of her books she also uses more than just paper to make her pictures. She adds items that she has found or made such as a twig or leaf; pencil or fork; popcorn or coffee bean.
Feathers for Lunch is the story of a hungry cat wanting some “wild” food, not just canned food. The model for the cat was Bucky, Ms. Ehlert’s sister’s cat. Trips to the Field Museum in Chicago supplied the models for the birds so that she could make sure that her illustrations of the birds were the right sizes and colors. During the cat’s romp through the backyard you see a red Geranium plant, a yellow Forsythia branch, a pink Bleeding Heart plant, apple blossom, red and yellow Tulips, a lush purple Lilac bush and a plush purple-red Petunia and you know that it is spring time. Because the cat is so big compared with the birds and the plants sometimes just his head is shown, sometimes his tail, and sometimes just the words “jingle jingle”, the sound that his bell makes. At the back of the book there are illustrations of the birds in the story with information about their size and habitat or place where they live.
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf is the story of a Sugar Maple tree from seed to grown tree. Ms. Ehlert cuts holes in some pages to create more color and depth. She also uses seeds, twigs, sacking, string and many other things to create her interesting collages. Although her illustrations are labeled to identify what is on the page, as usual, she uses a small print so that the labeling is not the most important thing on the page. If you want to plant a tree yourself, then the information she provides at the back of the book will get you started.
Leaf Man was created because of Ms Ehlert’s habit of collecting things, in this case leaves. She loves the vibrant or brilliant colors of the leaves and to preserve that color, she photocopied her leaves and used the photocopies to make the collages. Many people helped her collect samples of different types of leaves from different parts of the country. In this book she also cuts the pages so that they look like hills and one page leads you on to the next.
Please welcome Ms Ehlert to our school and give her you full attention!
Lessons
· Read several of Lois Ehlert’s books with the students, discussing the story and all the additional information provided at the back of most of the books
· Explain art vocabulary such as collage, illustrator
· Allow students time to examine the books for themselves
· Provide paper, scissors, glue, paint
· Provide, or ask the students to bring, such things as leaves, twigs, pinecones, scraps of fabric, any small items that could be glued to a page
· Let students choose a topic such as a nature theme that interests them and then compose a collage that illustrates that topic in the same way the Ehlert does.
· Provide reference materials for students, as needed, so that they can check colors and sizes of animals for example
· Display the artwork.
Books by Lois Ehlert
SELF-ILLUSTRATED
- Growing Vegetable Soup, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1987, 2004.
- Planting a Rainbow, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1988.
- Color Zoo, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1989.
- Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1989.
- Color Farm, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1990.
- Feathers for Lunch, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1990.
- Fish Eyes: A Book You Can Count On, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1990, Red Wagon Books (New York, NY), 2001.
- Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1991.
- Circus, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1992.
- Moon Rope: A Peruvian Folktale, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1992.
- Nuts to You!, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1993, Voyager Books (Orlando, FL), 2004.
- Mole's Hill: A Woodland Tale, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1994.
- Snowballs, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1995, Red Wagon Books (New York, NY), 2001.
- Under My Nose (autobiography), photographs by Carlo Ontal, Richard C. Owen (Katonah, NY), 1996.
- Hands, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1997.
- Cuckoo: A Mexican Folktale, translated into Spanish by Gloria de Aragon Andujar, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1997.
- Top Cat, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1998.
- Market Day: A Story Told with Folk Art, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2000.
- Waiting for Wings, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2001.
- In My World, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2002.
- Pie in the Sky, Harcourt (Orlando, FL), 2004.
- Leaf Man, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2005.
- Wag a Tail, Harcourt (Orlando, FL), 2007.
- Oodles of Animals, Harcourt (Orlando, FL), 2008.
ILLUSTRATOR" Lois Ehlert." 2008. Books & Authors. Gale. 30 Sep 2010. Web.
"Lois Ehlert." 2008. Contemporary Authors Online. Gale. 30 Sep 2010. Web.
“Ehlert, Lois (Jane)” Something about the Author V. 128 New York: Gale, 2002. Print.
Ehlert, Lois. Under My Nose. Katonah, NY: Richard C. Owen, 1996. Print.
Eric Carle
Illustrator Study
by Susan Shatford
Eric Carle was born on June 25, 1929 in Syracuse, New York. He is the son of German immigrant parents. Eric fondly remembers his walks through the woods and fields with his father as they explored nature and all of the animals they saw along the way. This would be the beginnings of his interest in nature and the animal world. When Eric was only 6 years old his family decided to move back to Germany. Eric didn’t like the German schools. He was sad and missed living in America. When Eric realized that he was not going back to America to live, he decided to become a bridge builder so that he and his German grandmother could walk back to America. Because Eric didn’t like school as a child, he wanted to make sure that other children did not feel the same way.
After graduating from college with a degree in graphic design, Eric returned to America. He worked as a commercial artist at The New York Times until the middle of the 1960’s when he illustrated his first children’s book. He went on to write many books which have received awards in England, France, Japan, and the U.S. His books have been published around the world in 17 languages. The first book that he co- wrote with Bill Martin Jr. and illustrated was Brown Bear, Brown Bear. In addition to Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Eric has gone on to illustrate 78 books in total. He writes and illustrates for young readers. He is best known for his book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This book was translated into more than 45 different languages and has sold over 30 million copies. Some of Eric’s other popular titles are The Mixed-Up Chameleon, The Very Busy Spider, The Very Quiet Cricket, and The Very Lonely Firefly. Eric’s favorite book is Do You Want to Be My Friend? because it is about friendship.
Eric Carle’s illustrations show an animal or scene and provide a good amount of white space as a background. This helps the reader focus on the key part of the picture without getting lost in any background details. Eric likes to leave this “breathing room” as he calls it in his pictures. His pictures are bold and yet beautifully simplistic. Eric believes that sometimes children prefer to have a simple concept presented in the least difficult way. As a child he found that if things were too wordy or busy on a page, it made it harder for him to understand. Along with his colorful illustrations, Eric sometimes uses other means to add to the story, such as the chirping of the cricket in The Very Quiet Cricket, the clicking of The Very Clumsy Click Beetle, the squeak of the little rubber duck in 10 Little Rubber Ducks, the flickering lights in The Very Lonely Firefly, and visual tricks to show complementary colors in Hello, Red Fox.
Eric’s uses an abstract artistic style with his illustrations. The medium that he prefers to use is tissue paper painted with acrylic paint. Collage is the type of art he favors when illustrating his books. The collages that he creates provide great texture and make his characters and scenes seem more detailed. Eric uses many elements of art, principles of design, and his artistic style to create his incredible illustrations.
To show the elements of art in his book The Tiny Seed, Eric uses different lines to show changing emotions in his two dimensional illustrations. He uses a horizontal line when showing the seeds traveling through the air from page to page. This use of line gives us a peaceful or calm feeling. As some of the seeds are lost in the desert, mountain tops, and sea, he uses a diagonal line that helps add to the tension of the little seeds long journey. Finally, Eric uses a vertical line when the little seed starts to sprout into a plant and grow. This vertical line shows many things such as growth, stability, and strength. The seed’s long journey has overcome many obstacles and through the use of line we have followed the journey.
In addition to line, Eric uses texture as one of his elements of art. Eric likes to add depth to his illustrations. A great example of this is in his book Mister Seahorse. Eric uses acetate pages along with his paper pages to overlay pictures and create a hiding place for the creatures that Mister Seahorse meets along his travels. Before you turn the transparent page the sea creature is somewhat hidden with his similar coloring to that of his surroundings, but after you turn the page you meet the creature and can almost feel its texture. You can almost feel the slippery seaweed or hard edges of the rock that the animals hide behind. Another example of texture added to an illustration is in his 3-dimensional thermography web (or bumpy lines) in The Very Busy Spider.
Eric uses the five principles of design which are harmony, variety and contrast, balance, movement, and dominance. Harmony is accomplished by repetition and rhythm of the elements of art. Eric shows repetition and rhythm in his book 10 Little Rubber Ducks with his continued use of the ducks. In this story Eric varies his size of the boat, darkness of the ocean colors, overlapping of objects when the boat loses its cargo to show variety and contrast in the story. This keeps the story from being too boring. When showing a two-page illustration, Eric keeps his balance in the asymmetrical picture because while he has his small boat on one page the uses the sun to balance this illustration on the other page. Movement is shown in his illustrations by the ducks being a little off-balance in the water as they move from place to place. The bright yellow color of the duck draws the reader’s eye to it on every page and gives it a sense of importance or dominance. To show movement of time, he uses a sun and moon. A good example of time passage is in the different sizes of the pages with the clocks at the top in The Grouchy Ladybug.
As an artist, Eric makes his own colored tissue paper. He starts with white tissue paper and then uses acrylic paint to paint it a single color. Once it dries, he adds other colors onto his painted base coat. These layers add depth and texture and are the main medium he uses for his illustrations. He then cuts pieces of acrylic painted tissue papers and layers them to make the shapes in his collages. In addition to his collages, he sometimes adds drama and depth by using die-cut pages in his illustrations or, as he did with Mister Seahorse, cutting the shapes first, crumpling the tissue paper and then painting it. He has also been known to paint or stamp his tissue paper with a piece of carpet, sponge, or burlap. He has used woodcut illustrations in Tales of the Nimipoo & Feathered Ones and Furry, multi-color linoleum block print illustrations in The Boastful Fisherman, and cartoon-like drawing in Otter Nonsense. Eric likes his books to be fun and playful so that children will want to read and explore them.
Eric knows that children are curious about the world that they live in. He remembers that incredible feeling he used to have when he and his dad would observe the creatures that they had found. He tries to put his strong feelings of the joy he had experienced into words to create his books. While some of his ideas for books came from these walks, others came from just being silly. His punching a hole in a bunch of papers was the beginnings of his book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Eric believes that his ideas come from all of his experiences that he has had in his life, his education, and what he holds in his heart. He considers himself a picture writer.
SLMS & Art Combined Lesson Plan
Audience: This lesson is meant for children in 2nd grade.
Purpose: To help children explore illustrating with painted tissue paper collage like Eric Carle uses for his illustrations.
Collaboration: Since the children will be creating a collage caterpillar, the SLMS will need to collaborate with the art teacher to make colored red, green, brown, and yellow tissue paper during two of the children’s art classes.
Library Materials: You will need The Very Lonely Firefly, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and The Mixed-Up Chameleon. You will also need glue sticks, scissors, caterpillar section templates, pencils, white construction paper, and wipes.
Art Class Materials: You will need white tissue paper, tiny pieces of carpeting, acrylic paints, paint brushes, scissors, and white construction paper. You will also need the video Eric Carle: Picture Writer and the book The Very Quiet Cricket.
Duration: This will take two weeks.
Time Frame: This lesson is meant to run the two weeks before the Caldecott Award is announced.
Week 1 – Library
Week 1 – 1st Art Class
Week 1 – 2nd Art Class
Week 2 – Library Class
(Note: You will want to have 2-3 parent volunteers to help with the activity.)
Awards and Recognitions (a partial listing of the awards he has received)
Illustrated Books
· Brown Bear, Brown Bear - 1967
· 1,2,3 to the Zoo - 1968
· The Very Hungry Caterpillar – 1969
· Pancakes, Pancakes! - 1970
· The Tiny Seed – 1970
· Tales of the Nimipoo (written by Eleanor B. Hardy) – 1970
· The Boastful Fisherman (written by William Knowlton) – 1970
· Feathered Ones and Furry (written by Aileen Fisher) – 1971
· The Scarecrow Clock (written by George Mendoza) - 1971
· Do You Want to Be My Friend? – 1971
· The Rooster Who Set Out to See the World – 1972
· The Very Long Tail – 1972
· The Very Long Train – 1972
· The Secret Birthday Message – 1972
· Walter the Baker – 1972
· Do Bears Have Mothers Too? – 1973
· Have You Seen My Cat? – 1973
· I See a Song – 1973
· My Very First Book of Numbers – 1974
· My Very First Book of Colors – 1974
· My Very First Book of Shapes – 1974
· My Very First Book of Words – 1974
· Why Noah Chose the Dove (written by Isaac Bashevis Singer) – 1974
· All About Arthur – 1974
· The Hole in the Dike (written by Norma Green) – 1975
· The Mixed-Up Chameleon – 1975
· Eric Carle’s Storybook, Seven Tales by the Brothers Grimm - 1976
· The Grouchy Ladybug – 1977
· Watch Out! A Giant! – 1978
· Seven Stories by Hans Christian Andersen – 1978
· Twelve Tales from Aesop – 1980
· The Honeybee and the Robber – 1981
· Otter Nonsense (written by Norton Juster) - 1982
· Catch the Ball! – 1982
· Let’s Paint a Rainbow – 1982
· What’s For Lunch? – 1982
· Chip Has Many Brothers (written by Hans Baumann) – 1993 and the new title: Thank You, Brother Bear - 1995
· The Very Busy Spider – 1984
· The Foolish Tortoise (written by Richard Buckley) – 1985
· The Greedy Python (written by Richard Buckley) – 1985
· The Mountain that Loved a Bird (written by Alice McLerran) – 1985
· All Around Us - 1986
· Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me – 1986
· My Very First Book of Sounds
· My Very First Book of Food – 1986
· My Very First Book of Tools – 1986
· My Very First Book of Touch – 1986
· My Very First Book of Motion – 1986
· My Very First Book of Growth – 1986
· My Very First Book of Homes – 1986
· My Very First Book of Heads – 1986
· All in a Day (collected by Mitsumasa Anno, in collaboration with 9 other artists) – 1986
· A House for Hermit Crab - 1987
· The Lamb and the Butterfly (written by Arnold Sundgaard) – 1988
· Eric Carle’s Treasury of Classic Stories for Children - 1988
· Animals, Animals (compiled by Laura Whipple) - 1989
· The Very Quiet Cricket – 1990
· Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? (written by Bill Martin Jr.) – 1991
· Dragons Dragons (compiled by Laura Whipple) – 1991
· Draw Me a Star - 1992
· Today Is Monday – 1993
· My Apron – 1994
· The Very Lonely Firefly – 1995
· Little Cloud – 1996
· The Art of Eric Carle – 1996
· From Head to Toe - 1997
· Flora and Tiger: 19 Very Short Stories From My Life – 1997
· Hello, Red Fox – 1998
· You Can Make a Collage: A Very Simple How-to Book – 1998
· The Very Clumsy Click Beetle – 1999
· Does A Kangaroo Have A Mother, Too? – 2000
· Dream Snow – 2000
· “Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” said the Sloth – 2002
· Where Are You Going? To See My Friend! – 2003
· Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? (written by Bill Martin Jr.) – 2003
· Mister Seahorse - 2004
· 10 Little Rubber Ducks – 2005
· Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? – 2007
Sources
Carle, Eric. 10 Little Rubber Ducks. New York, N.Y.: HarperCollins, 2005.
Carle, Eric. Hello, Red Fox. New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 1998.
Carle, Eric. Mister Seahorse. New York, N.Y.: Philomel, 2004.
Carle, Eric. Rooster's off to See the World. New York, N.Y.: F. Watts, 1972.
Carle, Eric. The Art of Eric Carle. New York: Philomel, 1996.
Carle, Eric. The Grouchy Ladybug. New York, N.Y.: HarperCollins, 1996.
Carle, Eric. The Tiny Seed. Natick, MA: Picture Book Studio, 1987.
Carle, Eric. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. New York, N.Y.: Collins, 1979.
Carle, Eric. The Very Lonely Firefly. New York, N.Y.: Philomel, 1995.
Carle, Eric. Today Is Monday. New York, N.Y.: Philomel, 1993.
Cummins, Julie. Children's Book Illustration and Design. New York, N.Y.: PBC International, 1992.
Eric Carle: Picture Writer. Dir. Rawn Fulton. Perf. Eric Carle. Searchlight Films, 1993. Videocassette.
Frohardt, Darcie Clark. Teaching Art with Books Kids Love: Teaching Art Appreciation, Elements of Art, and Principles of Design with Award-winning Children's Books. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Resources, 1999.
Kovacs, Deborah, and James Preller. Meet the Authors and Illustrators: 60 Creators of Favorite Children's Books Talk about Their Work. New York, NY: Scholastic Professional, 1991.
Norton, Donna E. Through The Eyes of a Child: An Introduction to Children’s Literature, 7th ed. Pearson: New Jersey, 2007.
The Official Eric Carle Web Site. Web. 11 Oct. 2010. <http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html>.
Illustration borrowed from location:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.museums10.org/images/uploads/EricCarleMuseum/ericcarle2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.museums10.org/index.php%3Fop%3Dcollections%26m%3D2&usg=__AtmCY3jrsX2mK_XpFIcu1YzFu4g=&h=351&w=520&sz=22&hl=en&start=1&zoom=1&tbnid=uDUjQBMzypVD0M:&tbnh=88&tbnw=131&prev=/images%3Fq%3Deric%2Bcarle%2Bcaterpillar%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1680%26bih%3D889%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1
on October 23, 2010
Elizabeth Lutwak
Illustrator Study
David Small
David Small grew up in Detroit, Michigan. Growing up in a big city, in an industrial setting (lots of cement, big buildings, factories), made him appreciate the beauty of art and music, as well as to see the need for beauty in life, from a young age. His father was a doctor and his mother was a stay at home mom. He was born with breathing problems and was often ill. At age 11 a bump was discovered on his neck. Thinking that it was a harmless growth, surgery to remove it wasn’t seen as urgent. Three and a half years later, at the age of fourteen he was finally operated to remove what had become quite a large bump. The first surgery revealed that the bump was cancer and a second surgery was immediately done to remove the bump. During the second surgery, one of his vocal cords was also removed. Since vocal cords are necessary for talking, he was left virtually voiceless for years until he discovered that screaming and talking in a loud voice made his remaining vocal cord stronger. He screamed whenever he could and told himself stories in a loud voice and eventually regained the ability to speak. The surgery also left him with a long, ugly scar that stretched from his ear to his throat.
Although his mother encouraged his talent at art, his life at home was not very happy. Members of his family were often angry and no one spoke to each other very much. His parents did not tell him that he had cancer; he learned this by accident when he came across a letter his mother had written. His parents considered him difficult and sent him far away to live at a strict boarding school. He ran away three times. He left home at the age of sixteen to live on his own. He recently wrote about his childhood in a graphic novel titled Stitches. He does not consider himself good with words, and generally illustrates the work of other authors, which is why his book Stitches is a graphic novel – he is more comfortable telling stories through pictures.
His talent as an artist was apparent at a young age and his mother encouraged this by sending him for lessons at the Detroit Institute of Arts. He later studied art in college and went on to get a Master of Fine Arts at Yale University. His goal was to be a fine artist, not an illustrator, and so he never studied illustration. He taught drawing and printmaking at a small college for fourteen years, until cutbacks resulted in him losing his job. At this point he turned his attention to illustration and cartoons and made his living drawing editorial and political cartoons for various publications, including The Washington Post, the New Yorker, and the New York Times. Eventually he began writing and illustrating books for children – both picture books and chapter books.
He has illustrated 29 books, 8 of which he wrote himself. Eulalie and the Hopping Head was the first book Mr. Small wrote and illustrated, in 1982, followed by Imogene’s Antlers in 1985. In 2001 he won a Caldecott Medal for So You Want to Be President?, a book that made use of his style of political cartoons. The book was written by Judith St. George. Mr. Small illustrated two other books with this same author, So You Want to Be an Inventor? and So You Want to Be an Explorer? All of these books feature stories about real people and their accomplishments, told in small, humorous anecdotes. At the end of each book there is a section that contains additional information about the people as well as other places to look for information on these topics.
Mr. Small has illustrated five books written by his wife, author Sarah Stewart. Among these are some of his best known books – The Library, The Money Tree, and The Gardener. The Gardner was a Caldecott Honor Book. Mr. Small’s art falls into the genre of realism. His pictures attempt to portray people and things as they actually appear. His political cartoon style, while somewhat more exaggerated, still falls into this category as the people and things he draws are easy to recognize as their real life counterparts.
Mr. Small uses watercolor and pen and ink to make his illustrations. His illustrations contain a great deal of meticulous detail. For George Washington’s Cows he traveled to Washington’s home, Mount Vernon, and spent hours making sketches of architectural details and notes on the light in each room so that his depictions of the home would be authentic. In The Huckabuck Family and How They Raised Popcorn in Nebraska and Quit and Came Back, background in the city often contains posters advertising well known products such as 7 Up and the cost – 5cents – which convey the fact that the story is set during the Great Depression. In The Library, we see posters on Elizabeth Brown’s walls of Tolstoy and Woolf, and in The Gardner, another depression era book, we see an actual framed portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the wall of her uncle’s bakery as well as signs advertising bread for 5 cents a loaf.
In spite of the great deal of detail, the subject of each is never lost. Mr. Small achieves through the use of monochromatic backgrounds, as in Fenwick’s Suit where the background painted is all in shades of sepia, or muted and out of focus, as in That Book Woman. Mr. Small also often surrounds his subject, or the focus of a particular illustration with a halo like area of white and paints them in bright colors. We see this in The Huckabuck Family when the second buckle is discovered as well as in depictions of the girl in The Gardner and The Friend. Mr. Small’s characters are sharply defined, and succeed in showing their emotions through skillfully wrought posture, stance and expression outlined in pen and ink, yet still appear soft due to the choice of color used to fill them in. This is true, as well, of secondary characters and of animals, which populate his books.
He varies the perspective to convey setting as when we see the small, country girl first experience the big city in The Gardner, as well as to further develop characters as in The Friend, where Belle’s parents are pictured driving away from her, already too far to distinguish on a separate page from where she stands, clinging to her nanny who is solid and facing us squarely.
In many of Mr. Small’s books he tells us a lot about the story before we even arrive at the first page, though his use of the endpapers and title pages. The background and initial act that sets in motion a chaotic scene is all explained before the first page of Once upon a Banana. In The Library the endpapers show well stocked bookshelves and a nice reading lamp, while the first title page shows a solitary woman reading on a park bench oblivious to the birds all around her. By the second title page we see this same woman, face still hidden in a book, reading as she walks through a rainstorm under an umbrella and we are curious to meet her. In The Gardner we are treated to Lydia Grace happily helping her grandmother in the garden, a subject referred to in many of her letters home. The use of the endpapers is not limited to beginnings, but extends to the end, where, in The Gardner we see Lydia Grace and her grandmother walking away from us, presumably back to the garden as they are carrying seeds and trowels.
The most touching use of these papers is found in The Friend. The opening papers provide the setting for the entire story and tell us so much about our protagonist. The first shows us a tiny girl, Belle, in an enormous and ornate bed and bedroom, all alone. She stands out with her red hair and blue nightdress against the room, which is all in shades of brown. In the next pages, she gets out of bed, finds and clutches her teddy bear, and makers her way down a grand staircase. At the front door we meet her parents, who are checking their watches and ready to leave. All of this and before the first page of text. At the end, after the story has been told, we have one last page showing us Belle as a young woman standing in a room that resembles that of her nanny rather than her parents’ grand house, clutching a gold locket that hangs around her neck. On the back endpapers is a rendering of the locket, with an actual photograph of a black woman holding a young, red headed baby. Stewart’s brief note suggests that this was her own childhood and that Bea was her real friend and caregiver. And this is true.
Lesson
After reading a selection of Small’s books, including So, You Want to Be President?, The Gardner, The Friend, The Library, and That Book Woman have students explain how Small adds to the story through his illustrations. Does the text tell us how Belle is feeling as her parents drive away? What do we learn abut the characters from the illustrations that is not included or obvious from the text?
Sources
Allen, Jenny. Children’s Books: Just the Two of Us. New York: The New York Times. Web. 10/15/10.
Appelt, Kathi. The Underneath. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Atheneum Books. 2008.
Armstrong, Jennifer. Once Upon a Banana. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Simon & Schuster. 2006.
Broach, Elise. When Dinosaurs Came with Everything. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Atheneum Books. 2007.
Cummins, Julie, ed. Children’s Book Illustration and Design. Volume II.New York:PBC International. 1998.
Henson, Heather. That Book Woman. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Atheneum Books. 2008.
Kennedy, Edward M. My Senator and Me: A Dog’s eye View of Washington, D.C. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Scholastic Press. 2006.
Mah, Linda. Children’s Illustrator David Small finds a ‘sense of relief’ in releasing graphic novel about his unhappy childhood. Kalamazoo, MI: Kalamazoo Gazette. 2009. Web 10/13/10.
Sandburg, Carl. The Huckabuck Family and How They Raised Popcorn in Nebraska and Quit and Came Back. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1999. Original text copyright 1923 by Carl Sandburg.
Silvey, Anita. The Essential Guide to Children’s Books and Their Creators. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 2002.
Small, David. Paper John. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1987.
Small, David. Imogene’s Antlers. New York: Crown Publishers. 1985.
Small, David. Eulalie and the Hopping Head. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1982.
Small, David. Stitches. New York: W. W. Norton and Company. 2009.
Stewart, Sarah. The Library. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1995.
Stewart, Sarah. The Journey. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2001.
Stewart, Sarah. The Gardner. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Scholastic Press. 1997.
Stewart, Sarah. The Friend. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2004.
Stewart, Sarah. The Money Tree. Illustrated by David Small. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1991.
St. George, Judith. So You Want to Be President? Illustrated by David Small. New York: Philomel Books. 2000.
St. George, Judith. So You Want to Be an Explorer? Illustrated by David Small. New York: Philomel Books. 2005.
St. George, Judith. So You Want to Be an Inventor? Illustrated by David Small. New York: Philomel Books. 2002.
Leo and Diane Dillon: “The Third Artist”
by Britt Sorensen
Husband and wife artists Leo and Diane Dillon have collaboratively illustrated a diverse range of works over the past fifty or so years. Both Leo Dillon and Diane Sorber were born in 1933, just eleven days apart. However, they were born and raised on opposite coasts of the United States: Leo was born in New York, while Diane was born in California. Although they would not meet until college, they both were aware of their own artistic talent from a very young age and encouraged by the adults around them to develop their artistic gifts. Before they even met one another, they had seen and admired one another’s artwork. When they met at Parson’s School of Design in 1954, they competed, sometimes “bitterly” in their art, but eventually they also developed a close friendship. After they graduated from Parson’s, they decided to get married and create art as a team. They became involved in book illustration through the science fiction writer Harlan Ellison, who asked them to illustrate some of his books. After that, they created the cover art for a series of science fiction books for adults called the Ace Science Fiction Specials. Eventually, they started to do illustrations for children’s books. Eventually the Dillons became so well known that another writer named Byron Preiss even wrote a book about them in 1981 called The Art of Leo and Diane Dillon. They still live in New York City, and have one son named Lee who is also a talented artist.
The Dillons have a very strong artistic vision and say they want people to take away some important ideas from their art. One main idea is that people of all races and cultures have a lot in common and experience the same things. The Dillons believe that no matter what kind of differences people have on the surface, underneath we all share certain similarities. The other main idea the Dillons want to express is that art in all its forms has been important throughout history and has inspired people for thousands of years. They want to show how much they appreciate artists of the past and also hope that their art inspires others to do the same.
They describe the process of working together and compromising as producing better art than either of them would create alone. They refer to the art they create together as being done by “the third artist” in that it is a creative force that is part of both of them, but also separate. The Dillons are so much of a team that they say when they are finished with an art piece, it is impossible to tell who illustrated what part! That is because they pass the artwork back and forth between them, each adding onto the other’s ideas. Since 1957, they have illustrated books, posters, album covers, and other media together. They are the only artists to win two consecutive Caldecott Medals, for Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears: A West African Tale by Verna Aardema in 1975 and Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions by Margaret Musgrove in 1976. Leo Dillon was also the first African-American to win a Caldecott Medal. In addition to the Caldecott, they have won five New York Times best illustrated book awards, multiple Coretta Scott King Honors and Awards, the Society of Illustrators Gold Medal, and many other awards and distinctions for their illustrations.
Selected Titles for Children Illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon
1970 The Ring in the Prairie by John Bierhorst
1972 Honey, I Love by Eloise Greenfield
1974 Whirlwind Is a Ghost Dancing by Natalia Maree Belting
1974 Songs and Stories from Uganda by W. Moses Serwadda
1974 The Third Gift by Jan R. Carew
1975 The Hundred Penny Box by Sharon Bell Mathis
1975 Song of the Boat by Lorenz B. Graham
1976 Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema
1977 Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions by Margaret Musgrove
1977 Who’s in Rabbit’s House: A Masai Tai by Verna Aardema
1980 Two Pair of Shoes by P.L. Travers
1980 Children of the Sun by Jan R. Carew
1983 A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
1985 Brother to the Wind by Mildred Pitts Walter
1989 The Color Wizard by Barbara Brenner
1990 The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks by Katherine Paterson
1990 Aïda by Leontyne Price
1991 The Race of the Golden Apples by Claire Martin
1991 Pish, Posh, Said Hieronymus Bosch by Nancy Willard
1992 Northern Lullaby by Nancy White Carlstrom
1993 The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Nancy Willard
1994 What Am I? by N.N. Charles
1995 Her Stories by Virginia Hamilton
1997 Sabriel by Garth Nix
1997 The Girl Who Dreamed Only Geese by Howard A. Norman
1998 To Everything There is a Season by Leo and Diane Dillon
1999 Wind Child by Shirley Rousseau Murphy
2000 The Girl Who Spun Gold by Virginia Hamilton
2000 20,000 League Under the Sea by Jules Verne
2001 Two Little Trains by Margaret Wise Brown
2001 Mansa Musa: The Lion of Mali by Khephra Burns
2002 Rap a Tap Tap: Here’s Bojangles—Think of That! by Leo and Diane Dillon
2003 One Winter’s Night by John Herman
2004 Where Have You Been? by Margaret Wise Brown
2004 Between Heaven and Earth: Bird Tales From Around the World by Howard A. Norman
2005 The People Could Fly by Virginia Hamilton
2005 Earth Mother by Ellen B. Jackson
2007 Mother Goose Numbers on the Loose by Leo and Diane Dillon
2007 Jazz on a Saturday Night by Leo and Diane Dillon
2009 Mama Says: A Book of Love for Mothers and Sons by Rob D. Walker
2009 The Goblin and the Empty Chair by Mem Fox
The Third Artist: Collaborative Art Activity Inspired by Leo and Diane Dillon
Objective: Students will work together to collaboratively create a new cover for one of the picture books illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. They will summarize the plot of a picture book illustrated by the Dillons, and share their illustrations and summaries in a jigsaw activity.
Grades: 3-6
Lesson Summary: This lesson could be done in the library or in collaboration with the art teacher. Introduce the artists Leo and Diane Dillon and their collaborative approach to illustration to the class. Share their feeling that working together, they produce something that neither of them could have produced alone, and their idea of the “third artist” as a result of their teamwork.
Divide the class into groups with picture books that can be read by the students independently. Because there is such a range of books illustrated by the Dillons, there are enough titles to differentiate for many reading levels. Tell the students that after reading the book, they will create a new cover for the book with a partner, taking turns adding details to their illustration until the new cover has been completed. They will also write a short summary of the book they have read and will share it with the rest of the class in a “jigsaw” activity. After this activity is completed, the covers and summaries can be displayed either in the library or elsewhere in the school.
After the activity, students should reflect on the experience of creating an illustration together. The following questions could be used for discussion:
What was positive about creating an illustration collaboratively?
What were some challenges of creating an illustration collaboratively?
Do you think you and your partner did a better illustration together than you would have independently?
What did this experience teach you about collaborative work?
What do you think the Dillons would want you to learn from working together?
Works Cited
National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature: Leo and Diane Dillon
http://www.nccil.org/experience/artists/dillon/index.htm
Kids Reads: Leo and Diane Dillon Biography
http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-dillon-leo-diane.asp
Scholastic Interview with Leo and Diane Dillon
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/collateral.jsp?id=10571_type=Contributor_typeId=3064
Through the Looking Glass Children’s Book Reviews
http://lookingglassreview.com/html/leo_and_diane_dillion.html
Leo and Diane Dillon: The Third Artist Rules
http://www.locusmag.com/2000/Issues/04/Dillons.html
Teaching Books Interview with Leo and Diane Dillon
http://www.teachingbooks.net/content/Dillons_trans.pdf
The Global Artistry of Leo and Diane Dillon
http://www.dexigner.com/news/17446
By Susan Allen
Steven Kellogg is the illustrator of over 100 books and author of 30 of those books! It is no surprise then that he has been drawing for almost all his life. He does not remember any one person or thing that made him want to start drawing; he just remembers that he always loved it. As a kid he drew all the time. To earn money for his art supplies, he would do odd jobs in the neighborhood such as mowing lawns ad gardening. He even went door to door trying to sell his artwork to buy more art supplies. When he was eight he got his first oil painting set, which he didn’t like at first because the colors dried so slow. He kept practicing with it and soon found himself creating hundreds of landscapes with this new found material.Steven loved animals as a kid and still does now. He would read magazines such as national Geographic ad pretend he was on assignment to draw pictures of wild animals for the magazine.
One of the things Steven liked most about drawing, was creating stories with his pictures. He would entertain his two younger sisters by making up stories and scribbling pictures to go along with the story. They called this activity “Telling Stories on Paper. Steven thinks that these early activities helped him with the work he does today, which is to combine verbal and visual elements (words and pictures) while turning the pages of a book.
One thing that Steven remembers worrying about as a child is having a job that he loved. In the neighborhood where he grew up, he would watch people go to and from work every day and a lot of times they did not look happy. It bothered him that some day he might have to spend every day in a place he hated, doing boring things he didn’t like to do. As he got older he realized that wasn’t necessarily true and that people can make choices to make a living doing something you like to do. The first step Steven says is knowing yourself, and making choices about what want to do. For him, it was to keep up drawing and writing throughout his school years. Many teachers encouraged him along the way and he often tells students that he remembers one in particular, Mr. Sheldon who encouraged him to attend the Rhode Island School of Design for college. He also had a chance to study in Italy when he was in college. The beautiful artwork of that country convinced him that he wanted to make his living as an artist.
Steven job as illustrator takes many forms. For some books he provides the drawings for a story another author has created, including stories that have bee around for years. In some of his books he presents factual information about numbers, space ad other things kids like to learn about. In others books, he writes the story himself creating the plot and characters, although he will tell you sometimes the characters “speak to him” and help him write the story.
Steven has many famous characters that he has created, that appear in his books. Steven likes to create characters that he would like to get to know better. He likes to give his characters larger than life proportions so they jump out of the book at you. He thinks of a book as a living thing and once he creates a character, he feels the character leads the story. Marvelossisimo the Magician is the star of How Much is a Million, a book that has been helping kids understand large numbers for over 20 years. Marvelossisimo returns in If You Made a Million to teach about money.
One of Steven’s favorite things to draw is still animals. He has written and illustrated several stories about Pinkerton, a playful Great Dane. The first was A Rose for Pinkerton written in 1981. Pinkerton has had many more adventures in Pinkerton, Behave!, Prehistoric Pinkerton, and a Penguin Pup for Pinkerton. The character of Pinkerton is based on one of the five Great Danes Steven has lived with over the years…named Pinkerton.
Steven also has illustrated several tall tales including Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyon and Pecos Bill. He likes tall tales for many reasons including the fact that they are full of humor ad outrageous characters. He loves to make children laugh.
When Steven illustrates a book that another author has written he makes sure to work closely with the author to create a character that is true to what the author had in mind Is Your Mama a Llama is one of his famous books illustrated for another author named Debra Guarino. Eglebert the Elephant is a book he illustrated for Tom Paxton and is one of his top five favorites.
Steven has used a number of materials to create his illustrations such as colored inks, watercolors, acrylic paints and different types of pencils. He doesn’t really have a favorite medium but tries to pick which material he thinks will best express the feeling or mood he wants for the illustration. When he sits down to work he sets his workspace up with all his materials around him so he doesn’t have to stop and search for a certain item. He does his work on the top floor of an old farmhouse where he has plenty of room to spread out and work on a lot of different project at once.
Steven describes his style as giving a lot of thought to the content, placemat and shape of the visual details that help to move the story forward. He likes the pictures and the words to work together, each taking part in telling the story.
What advice does Steven Kellogg have to students who want to follow in his footsteps? He says “I would tell them to read as many books as possible, think how the stories move and make them feel. They should write as much as they can about their ideas and feelings. To become an illustrator, they should observe, practice and create characters that can come to life. As an author/illustrator, they should make sure that their pictures blend and combine well with the text.”
TEACHING WITH STEVEN KELLOG
There are a number of different ways a Library Media Specialist can use a study of Steven Kellogg with students.
TALL TALES
Read aloud several of Steven Kellogg’s Tall Tales. Have students identify which parts of the stories are exaggerations and which ones make them laugh. Do the pictures make the story funnier? Have students create a tall tale of their own individually or in groups with illustrations.
TELLING STORIES ON PAPER
Steven Kellogg enjoys telling students about an activity he loved as a child which he calls “Telling Stories on Paper”. This is an excellent exercise for students in grades 4-6. Students will work as partners with one student narrating a story while the partner sketches an illustration. For younger grades writing prompts can be used.
PLOT SEQUENCE
As an illustrator, Steven Kellogg emphasizes the importance of illustrations moving the story along in a picture book. Using one of the more simpler works of Steven Kellogg, students will create a timeline of main events in the story. For each event, the students will tell about the features of an illustration depicting that event and share how it enhances the story.
WHAT DO YOU SEE?
Steven Kellogg’s illustrations are extremely and add a lot to the written words on the page. Have students work in groups of two and assign each one a Steven Kellogg book. Have each group share five details/ideas they see on the page that they would not have discovered if they only read the words.
WORKS OF STEVEN KELLOGG
SOURCES:
Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children About Their Art, Philomel Books, New York, NY 2007
Talking With Artists, Pat Cummings. Ed. Bradbury Press, New York, NY 1992
Reading Rockets: An Interview with Steven Kellogg
www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/kellogg ·
Washingtonpost.com interviewed Sunday Nov 5, 2006
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/03/AR2006110301123.html
www.stevenkellogg.com
Illustrator Study: Demi
By Kailin Fenn
BIOGRAPHY FOR AUDIENCE OF CHILDREN: Today we have a very special guest speaking for us. She is an internationally famous children’s book author and illustrator. She has written and illustrated over 130 books and she grew up right here in Boston! She grew up in Cambridge, to be exact, but currently lives in Carnation, Washington and art is most definitely in her blood. Her mother was an artist and her father was an architect. She grew up lingering in her mother’s art studio, loving the sounds, smells and sights. She never had a doubt as to what she would do with her life. Going even further back, her great-grandfather was a very famous American painter named William Morris Hunt. She was surrounded by art of all kinds when she was growing up and her family taught her how to truly appreciate all of it. She wasn’t born with the name Demi, in fact her original name is Charlotte Dumaresq Hunt. At one point in her life she was half the size of her sister: her father called her Demi (which means half) and she has been going by it ever since! She has studied art all over the world and even spent two years in India doing so! She has been most influenced by Chinese art, however, and for every illustration she works on she uses what she calls “the four Chinese treasures”: a Chinese paintbrush, ink, an ink-stone, and paper. Sometimes she even paints on silk! She loves using strong, vivid, beautiful colors and enjoys telling and retelling stories from all over the world, from many cultures, and many religions. Can you believe that she paints all of her illustrations from scratch? She never does a rough draft or sketches things out first! She feels the painting inside of her and merely puts it on paper as she goes along. Let’s hear more from her about her wonderful art and her wonderful books. Here’s Demi!
BACKGROUND(to answer other questions not answered in above biography): Demi has, as mentioned, illustrated over 130 children’s books, but among the most representative of her philosophy, interests, and art are Buddha, Muhammad, Gandhi, The Stonecutter, Firebird, The Empty Pot, and One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale. Her style is intricate, colorful, and clearly influenced by Chinese, Indian, and Middle Eastern art. She prefers to illustrate biographies of important spiritual figures, folktales, legends and tales from different cultures. One unique aspect of her art is that she likes to use gold leaf foil to accentuate her drawings; it was used most aptly in Muhammad, where she used it to represent the Prophet Muhammad without drawing his image (as this is forbidden in Islam). When illustrating tales, legends, or biographies representative of other cultures or philosophies, she is always sensitive in doing so. Children can learn a great deal not only from the way she chooses to illustrate her books and tell her stories, but also from the author’s notes. For example, in Muhammad, she explains her use of the gold leaf and the reasons for it as well as sharing with readers how her art was influenced by Islamic culture. Muhammad is not the only book in which she allows the culture about which she is writing to influence her artwork; the influence of her world travels shines through in all of her art. She is married to a man named Tze-si Jesse Huang who has told her many folktales he heard in his childhood in China. Both The Empty Pot and The Magic Boat are based on his stories. She works in many different mediums including watercolor, collage, serigraph, and even textile. I find her books to be almost mesmerizing; her text is simple, sensitive, and quite elegant. Her illustrations are vibrant, ornate, and sometimes have an other worldly feel to them. As mentioned above, she never drafts her illustrations. To her, “feeling is first.” This kind of instinct and intuition is evident in every book she illustrates.
LESSON: A LMS can use the book One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale to help students develop number sense. The main character in the book essentially dupes the rich and greedy raja out of his storehouse of rice by making an agreement with the raja that he should reward her for a good deed by giving her one grain of rice the first day of the month and every day after he would have to double the amount from the day before. The raja thinks this will not be much to give, but discovers by the end of the 30th day that keeping his word means giving the girl more than one billion grains of rice. It’s best to use this lesson with 4-5th graders who can grasp the concept of how truly large this amount might be as they begin to figure it out themselves.
The LMS will read the book up until the point when the girl (Rani) proposes her plan to the raja. My book does not have page numbers so simply read up to the following quote, “Today, you will give me a single grain of rice. Then, each day for thirty days you will give me double the rice you gave me the day before. Thus, tomorrow, you will give me two grains of rice, the next day four grains of rice, and so on for thirty days.” After this point, ask the students for predictions. Do they think this will be a large amount of rice or a small amount? How much do you think Rani will end up with by the end of the month? Write their predictions on a piece of chart paper. Break the students up into several groups and give them a copy of a calendar with thirty days. Write “one grain of rice” on the first page. Tell them they will be given 15 minutes to try to figure out just how much rice the raja will receive. By the end of this time, call the groups back together and ask for their final estimates. Make it clear that it is okay if groups couldn’t come up with an exact number—this is an excellent opportunity for students to make estimates and predictions that are more grounded than before. After writing their final estimates and/or calculations on the chart paper, continue the story and read to the end. Demi’s illustrations do a nice job making it clear how quickly the rice multiplies. Discuss with the students why Rani was able to trick the raja so easily. You can extend this lesson if you have extra time to talk about estimates and predictions if she had said he had to triple the amount of rice every day. Quadruple? Etc.
SOURCES:
Baltimore Public Library. “Demi: Author and Illustrator.” BCPLOnline.org. N.p., Apr. 1998. Web. 8 Oct. 2010. <http://www.bcplonline.org/kidspage/demi.html>.
Demi. Buddha. NY: Henry Holt and Co. , 1997. N. pag. Print.
- - -. The Empty Pot. NY: Henry Holt and Co., 2007. N. pag. Print.
- - -. Firebird. NY: Owlet Paperbacks, 2005. N. pag. Print.
- - -. Gandhi. NY: Margaret K. McElderry, 2001. N. pag. Print.
- - -. The Magic Boat. NY: Henry Holt and Company, 1990. N. pag. Print.
- - -. Muhammad. NY: Margaret K. McElderry, 2003. N. pag. Print.
- - -. One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale. NY: Scholastic, 1997. N. pag. Print.
- - -. The Stonecutter. NY: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1995. N. pag. Print.
Papertigers.org. “Demi.” Papertigers.org. N.p., 2008. Web. 11 Oct. 2010. <http://www.papertigers.org/gallery/Demi/index.html>.
Jerry Pinkney Illustrator Study
Presented by Michelle Muscatell
October 24, 2010
LBS 803
Biography:
Jerry Pinkney won the 2010 Caldecott Medal for his illustrated adaptation of the Aesop fable “The Lion and the Mouse.” Prior to this, he was awarded five Caldecott Honors. He also won the Cpretta Scott King Award five times and the Coretta Scott Honor three times. Finally, he was nominated for the Hans Christian Anderson Award.
Jerry Pinkney was born on December 22, 1939 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has five siblings - two brothers and three sisters - and is the only one with no middle name. When his mother was asked about it, she would say “‘Jerry is enough. He’ll make something of that name, I just know it.” And know it she did.
His parents encouraged him and his siblings to draw. He’s not sure why because there were no artists in the family or neighborhood, but he thinks it was just to keep everybody busy. There was no television in their house.
In elementary school he struggled with learning. He was later diagnosed with dyslexia. Yet, his artistic talent was recognized and encouraged. And, despite his dyslexia he succeeded in school. He later won a scholarship to the Philadelphia College of Art, after being discouraged from applied because he was African American. He became a commercial artist after graduating from college and illustrated his first children’s book,The Adventures of Spider , in 1964.
He is married with four children.
Jerry’s favorite book is also his work in progress. He says “my strongest feelings about a particular book are tied to the experience of creating it.”
For advice to kids who want to be authors or illustrators he says that the most important thing to do is to read. You need to be able to interpret what you see, read and hear.
Artistic Style:
Jerry’s medium of choice is watercolor. But, he doesn’t call himself a watercolorist. He says he’s “really a drawer at heart.” He chose a transparent medium because the line is so important to his work. The line can play it’s role in the illustration with watercolor.
Jerry Pinkney’s Illustrated Children’s Books:
Three Little Kittens, 2010 Sweethearts of Rhythm, 2009
The Lion & The Mouse, 2009 The Moon Over Star, 2008
Little Red Riding Hood, 2007 The All-I’ll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll, 2007
Ain’t Nobody a Stranger to Me, 2007 The Little Red Hen, 2006
The Old African, 2005 God Bless the Child, 2003
Noah’s Ark, 2002 The Nightingale, 2002
Goin’ Someplace Special, 2001 Albidaro & the Mischievious Dream, 2000
Aasop’s Fables, 2000 Journeys with Eiljah, 1999
The Ugle Ducking, 1999 Uncle Remus: The Complete Tales, 1999
The Little Match Girl, 1989 Black Cowboy, Wild Horses, 1998
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, 1997 The Hired Hand, 1997
Sam and the Tigers, 1996 Minty:A Story of a Young Harrie Tubman,1996
The Jungle Book, 1995 Tanya’s Reunion, 1995
John Henry, 1994 Sunday Outing, 1994
The Last Tales of Uncle Remus, 1994 A Starlit Somersault Downhill, 1993
New Shows for Silva, 1993 I Want to Be, 1993
David’s Songs, 1993 Back Home, 1992
Drylongso, 1992 The Man with His Heart in a Bucket, 1991
In For Winter, Out For Spring, 1991 Pretend You’re a Cat, 1990
Home Place, 1990 Further Tales of Uncle Remus, 1990
Turtle in July, 1989 The Talking Eggs, 1989
Rabbit Makes a Monkey of Lion, 1989 More Tales of Uncle Remus, 1988
Mirandy and Brother Wind, 1988 The Green Lion of Zion Street, 1988
Wild Wild Sunflower Child Anna, 1987 The Tales of Uncle Remus, 1987
Strange Animals of the Sea, 1987 Half a Moon and One Whole Star, 1986
A Patchwork Quilt, 1985 Monster Myths of Ancient Greece, 1981
Apples on a Stick: Folklore of Black Children, 1981
Jahdu, 1980 Count Your Fingers African Style, 1980
Tonweya and the Eagles, and other Lakota Tales, 1979
Childtimes: A Three Generation Memoir, 1979
Tales from Africa, 1978 Mary McLeod Bethune, 1977
Jl-Nongo-Nongo Means Riddle, 1977 Yagua Days, 1975
Song of the Trees, 1975 Roots of Time, 1974
The Great Minu, 1974 Mickey and Minny, 1973
Kasho and the Twin Flutes, 1973 JD, 1972
Femi and the Old Grandaddle, 1972 More Adventures of Spider, 1971
The King’s Ditch: A Hawaiian Tale,1971 The Twin Witches of Fingle Fu, 1969
The Porcupine and the Tiger, 1969 Juano and the Wonderful Fresh Fish, 1969
Homerhenry, 1969 Babushka and the Pig, 1969
Shoes, Pennies, and Rockets, 1968 Kostas the Rooser, 1968
Folktales and Fairytales of Africa, 1967 Even Tiny Ants Must Sleep, 1967
The Clock Museum 1967
The Beautiful Blue Jay and Other Tales of India, 1967
The Traveling Frog, 1966 A Book of Sizes and Shapes, 1966
A Year Around Book, 1965 This is Music, 1965
The Adventures of Spider: West African Folk Tales, 1964
(Please visit Jerry Pinkney Studio __http://www.jerrypinkneystudio.com/frameset.html__ and click Children’s Books on the left side menu to see the book covers)
Lesson:
Show students the illustrations in “The Lion and the Mouse”. Do not say anything. Do not let the students say anything. Just have them look at the illustrations. If they have a connection, or a comment, have them raise their hand silently and acknowledge it silently.
After looking through the book, close the book and ask the students what the story was about. Who are the characters? What is the storyline? Where is the setting? Finally, while looking at the illustrations, have students tell the story. This is when they can share any connections or comments to the illustrations.
This can be used with K-4. With fourth grade, as an extended activity, a discussion can be done about personification with fourth graders. What is personification and can you tell what the animals are feeling by looking at the illustrations?
Sources Used:
Children’s Literature Independent Information and Reviews. Meet Authors and Illustrators: Jerry Pinkney. 1 Feb. 2003. 24 Oct 2010. __http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/mai_pinkney_jerry.html__
Pinkey, Jerry. Jerry Pinkney Studio.October 23, 2010. __http://www.jerrypinkneystudio.com/frameset.html__
Pinkney, Jerry. The Lion and the Mouse. New York: Little Brown and Co, 2009.
Reading Rockets. Transcript from an Interview with Jerrry Pinkney. 23 Oct 2010. __http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/pinkneyj/transcript__
RIF Reading Plant Meet the Authors and Illustrators: Jerry Pinkney __http://www.rif.org/kids/readingplanet/bookzone/pinkney.htm__.
Spooner, Andrea. “Jerry Pinkney.” Horn Book, July/August 2010. Accessed online __http://www.hbook.com/magazine/articles/2010/jul10_spooner.asp__
Illustrator Study -- Brian Selznick
Tracy Ryan-Doherty
October 24, 2010
Growing up in New Jersey, Brian Selznick was always drawing and building things. In his backyard at the edge of the woods, Brian constructed a “GI Joe Island” with fortresses, tree houses and roads. Brian Selznick didn’t play with GI Joe on his island very much; he was more interested in the actual building and constructing, but his major interest was drawing. His kindergarten teacher noted on his report card that he was a good artist.
Brian Selznick went to the Rhode Island Institute of Design and majored in illustration. People often admired his drawings and told him that he should illustrate children’s books, but Brian Selznick had no plans of becoming a children’s book illustrator. When he was in college he developed an interest in theater and even acted in some plays. He designed a set for one of the plays, and his set design was a huge hit. Brian Selznick decided that he would use his artistic abilities to become a set designer for the theater. He was ready to pursue his chosen career, but he did not get into the school at which he wanted to to study set design, so Brian Selznick decided to take some time off and do some travelling. During the time he spent travelling, Brian kept notebooks in which he drew and wrote stories.
After returning from his travelling, Brian Selznick realized that he loved drawing so very much and did want to be a children’s book illustrator. He didn’t know very much about children’s books, so he went looking for a job where he could learn about books. Brian Selznick saw a sign on the window of a bookstore looking for an experienced sales person who knew a lot about children’s books. He didn’t have much knowledge of children’s books, but he went in the store and interviewed for the job anyway. Brian Selznick’s lack of knowledge was clear to the manager, and the manager told him to go out and study and learn about children’s books and come back. Brian Selznick returned to the store and received the job after he had studied and increase his knowledge of children’s books. In addition to selling books while working at the bookstore, he also designed the window displays. Brian Selznick feels that his time spent creating the window displays has helped him with his illustrating career. When creating the window displays, he always had to make sure that his displays were clear and eye-catching. He learned everything he knows about children’s books while working at the bookstore. His job at the bookstore inspired him to create children’s books of his own. His first book, The Houdini Box, was published while he was still working at the bookstore. The Houdini Box was not originally meant to be a children’s book. It was a project that Brian Selznick had done for a class at school that he found in the closet and reworked into a children’s book.
Aside from his first book, The Houdini Box, Brian Selznick has illustrated other books he has written as well as many books by other authors. Brian Selznick’s own books include The Invention of Hugo Cabret, The Boy of a Thousand Faces, and The Robot King. Brian loves illustrating other authors’ books because those are stories he never would have thought of himself. Among the books that he has illustrated for other author’s are Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride, Riding Freedom, The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins, Walt Whitman: Words for America, When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson, Wingwalker, Frindle, The Doll People, The Meanest Doll in the World, and Runaway Dolls.
Brian Selznick has used different mediums in the books he has illustrated for children. In Wingwalker, the illustrations were done on unprimed watercolor paper with acrylic paints. In Frindle and The Invention of Hugo Cabret, the illustrations were done in pencil. In The Houdini Box, the illustrations are rendered in pen. Brian Selznick prefers to create small pencil drawings and enlarge those drawings for his illustrations because the open lines remind him of the black and white movies that he loved to watch so much as a child.
Brian Selznick does a lot of research before illustrating his books so that his illustrations are authentic and he has travelled extensively to research for his books. For Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride, he was in Washington, D.C. for six months, he spent time at Walt Whitman’s childhood home in West Hills, New York for Walt Whiman: Words for America, he travelled to England for The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins and went to Paris three times researching for The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Brian also reads a lot of books about the subjects he is illustrating and talks to experts about the subjects he is illustrating. When he starts to illustrate a book, he first goes through the book and underlines all of the descriptive text. It is important that any character descriptions provided by the author are matched by the illustrations. If the author has not described how a character looks, Brian Selznick has the freedom to illustrate the character as he sees the character. He feels that the page turns of a picture book are are a very important element of the story because they move the plot along and include the reader in the action, so he will read through the text of the story a decide where he wants the page turns to be. Brian Selznick then does his research and makes sketches. He will also use models to help with his illustrations. He will find someone who looks like the character he imagined and take photographs of the person. His research, sketches, and photographs are then used to produce his illustrations.
Brian Selznick has won many awards for his work. The Houdini Box won the 1993 Texas Bluebonnet Award and the Rhode Island Children’s Book Award. When Marian Sang won a 2003 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor and the 2004 Norman Sugarman Award for outstanding picture book biography. The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins was a 2002 Caldecott Honor Book and a 2002 Orbis Pictus Award Honor Book for Outstanding non-fiction. Walt Whitman: Words for America was named a 2004 New York Times Ten Best Illustrated book and received a Robert F. Sibert Honor in 2004 for most distinguished informational book for children. The Invention of Hugo Cabret won the 2008 Caldecott Medal and is currently being turned into a movie directed by Martin Scorsese.
Brian Selznick’s advice to children is to do what you love. If you want to be an artist, just paint, draw, or create sculpture. Use whatever medium gives you the most pleasure just create art as much as possible. Spend as much time around art as possible. Go to museums, read, and look at other artist’s work. Just as Brian Selznick has received inspiration from Remi Charlip, who wrote Fortunately, Arm in Arm, and Thirteen, which were some of Brian Selznick’s favorite books, and Maurice Sendak author of Where the Wild Things Are which Brian considers to be the best children’s book ever, maybe you will be inspired by your favorite author or illustrator.
Books Illustrated by Brian Selznick:
- Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride by Pam Munoz Ryan
- Barnyard Prayers by Laura Godwin
- The Boy Who Longed For a Lift by Norma Farber
- Dinosaurs of Water House Hawkings, The by Barbara Kerley
- Doll Face Has a Party! by Pam Conrad
- Doll People, The by Ann M. Martin
- Dulcimer Boy, The by Tor Seidler
- Frindel by Andrew Clements
- Janitor’s Boy, The by Andrew Clements
- The Landry News by Andrew Clements
- Lunch Money by Andrew Clements
- Marly’s Ghost by David Levithan
- Meanest Doll in the World, The by Ann Martin
- Nora’s Notes by Andrew Clements
- Our House: Stories of Levittown by Pam Conrad
- Report Card, The by Andrew Clements
- Riding Freedom by Pam Munoz Ryan
- Runaway Dolls, The by Ann Martin
- School Story by Andrew Clements
- Walt Whitmam: Words for America by Barbara Kerley
- Week in the Woods, A by Andrew Clements
- When Marian Sang: The True Recital by Pam Munoz Ryan
of Marian AndersonBooks Written and Illustrated by Brian Selznick:
Lesson: Using Research to Create a Book Cover
Framework: Massachusetts English Language Arts Curriculum Framework
Standard: 24.2 Identify and apply steps in conducting and reporting research:
Grades: 3-4
Objective: This lesson will support the Language Arts Curriculum by utilizing Brian Selznick’s belief that illustrations are more authentic when he immerses himself in his subject matter by researching extensively.
Time: 2 hours
Creating a Book Cover:
Assessment: Students will be assessed based on how many of the symbols/objects they have incorporated into their cover design and the accuracy of their rationale for selecting them.
Sources:
Children’s Literature: Meet Authors and Illustrators: Brian Selznick
__http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/mai_selznick_brian.html__
Clements, Andrew. Frindle. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1996.
Embracing the Child: Brian Selznick, Children’s Author
__http://www.embracingthechild.org/Aselznick.html__
Kerley, Barbara. The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins: An Illuminating History of Mr.
Waterhouse Hawkins, Artist and Lecturer. New York: Scholastic Press, 2001.
Wells, Rosemary. Wingwalker. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 2002.
Reading Rockets: A Video Interview With Brian Selznick
__http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/selznick__
Scholastic Biography: Brian Selznick
__http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/contributor.jsp?id=3180__
Scholastic: Brian Selznick Video Interview
__http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/collection.jsp?id=185__
Scholastic: Brian Selznick Author Interview Novemeber 2007
__http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/media.jsp?id=650__
Selznick, Brian. The Houdini Box. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1991.
Selznick, Brian. The Invention of Hugo Cabret. New York: Scholastic Press, 2007.
SlashFilm: Martin Scorsese Indeed Adapting The Invention of Hugo Cabret
__http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/01/22/martin-scorsese-indeed-adapting-the-invention-of-hugo-cabret/__
Deborah Caudill
Illustrator Study
Tomie dePaola
Tomie dePaola was born, Thomas Anthony dePaola, on September 15, 1934 in
Meriden, CT. He lived there with his parents, Joseph and Florence, his brother, Joseph, and his sisters, Judie and Maureen. Tomie showed all the signs from the age of four that he wanted to become a writer and an illustrator. His mother loved books and read to him every day. Tomie would illustrate the stories she read. He
Tomie’s childhood was filled with happy times and much storytelling and this has carried over into his stories. Tomie ‘s family was a strong influence on his writing. Many of his characters were based on his family members. His Italian grandmother was the inspiration for his book, Watch Out For Chicken Feet in Your Soup. His series known as 26 Fairmount Avenue books, which include 26 Fairmount Avenue, Here We All Are, and On My Way, were based on his childhood experiences.
During his school years, Tomie continued to draw and dance. His dancing partner, Carol Morrissey, and he performed around the Meriden area while they were in school. Tomie took art classes and his art could be seen in exhibitions, theater productions, posters and many other places.
After he graduated from high school, Tomie went to Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. As he would tell you, he spent his four years “learning how to draw everything-tin cans, dogs, cats, horses, trees- and I practiced and practiced.”
Once out of school, Tomie got by designing greeting cards and stage sets, and painting church murals. Many of his murals can be seen on the walls of Catholic churches and monasteries in New England. Some years later in 1965, Tomie got his first job illustrating a science book called Sound. Then about a year later, he authored and illustrated his first book, The Wonderful Dragon of Timlin.
As of today, Tomie has illustrated over two hundred books and written stories for half of them. These include folktales, nursery rhymes, board books, religious books, chapter books, and much more.
Tomie is also known as a caring and giving man who loves children and knows how to entertain people. Over the years, he has visited elementary schools, taught college classes, and traveled around the country on book tours. He even appeared on the television show, Barney.
He is still writing and illustrating and has book projects scheduled for years ahead. Today he lives in New London, New Hampshire with his Airedale dog, Bronte and has renovated and converted a two hundred year-old barn into an art studio.
Tomie de Paola’s Style
Tomie de Paola is one of today's most highly respected and recognized names in children's literature. Both children and adults are charmed by his characters and artistic style. His illustrations are light hearted and fun and many are in the style of folk art. DePaola creates his artwork in a combination of watercolor, tempera, and acrylic paints.
Awards
Tomie dePaola has received many awards throughout his career. These include:Using Books by Tomie de Paola in the School Library
Elementary SLMS can use books by Tomie de Paola to teach students how to examine the way an author creates a character, and how to use one's understanding of a character's personality and his or her behavior to make predictions about what will happen next in a story.Watch an interview of Tomie dePaola as he talks about his childhood and becoming an artist. Tomie’s Interview
SLMS Lessons Using Books by Tomie DePaola
Objective: Students will make a quilt by creating squares that tell something about them in pictures.
Materials: The book, The Quilt Story by Tony Johnston and illustrated by Tomie dePaola, precut 8” squares of oak tag paper, colored pencils.
Procedure:
SLMS can use The Art Lesson By Tomie dePaola as an introduction to the Paint Program on the computer in order to integrate reading with technology.
Objective: Students will learn how to use the Paint Program on the computer.
Materials: The Art Lesson by Tomie DePaola.
Procedure:
· Read The Art Lesson.
· Tell the students that they are going to have an art lesson using the computer.
· Students will open up the paint program and using the tools will create a picture of their choice. Tell the students that they need to write a sentence to go with their picture.
· Print the pictures and have the students take them home.
SLMS can use The Cloud Book by Tomie dePaola as an introduction to a lesson on weather. Students can learn the different types of clouds, cumulus, cirrus, and nimbus clouds as seen in the book and learn what type of weather to expect when those clouds are present in the sky. Students can create a picture of each with weather conditions along with a description of the cloud and weather.
Sources
Children’s Literature- http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/mai_depaola_tomie.html
Tomie's Blog: Questions and Answers
Tomie dePaola’s interview: http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/depaola
Tomie de Paola’s website: www.tomie.com
Scholastic.com
Suite 101: http://www.suite101.com/content/tomie-depaolas
Illustrator Study: Brian Lies by Lauren
Brian Lies (pronounced “Lees” as in “keys”) is a children’s book illustrator who lives in Massachusetts. He is coming to our school to talk about illustrating books. Brian was born in 1963 in New Jersey and has loved nature, writing, and drawing all of his life. As a child he loved to draw but did not think he was good enough to become an artist. Brian says that as a child he made the mistake of thinking you had to be born with a talent to be great at something. However, he says he has learned that you can learn the skills that you need to become great. Brian has practiced drawing and developed the skills of a great artist.
Brian Lies prefers drawing animals and landscapes. He “tries to keep the design of his animal characters as naturalistic as possible despite their often human-like behavior” (Official). Brian has illustrated animals in the following books: Deep in the Swamp, Lucky Duck, Zoo Train, Spy Hops and Belly Flops, Dinosaur Footprints, Dinosaurs, Popcorn, See the Yak Yak, the Midnight Fridge, Where are he Bears, George and the Dragon Word, the Finklehopper Frog series, and the Flatfoot Fox series. He has also both written and illustrated some books, such as Bats at the Library, Bats at the Ballgame, Bats at the Beach, Hamlet and the Magnificent Sandcastle, and Hamlet and the Enormous Chinese Dragon Kite. All five of the books he has written and illustrated have been on the New York Times bestseller list, and these books are representative of his best work. Bats at the Library was named Best New Picture Book in the 2009 Indies Choice Book Awards.
Brian Lies has a very detailed, artistic style. He is able to create whole new worlds through the rich details of his pictures. He strengthens the characterization of characters by drawing details of setting, clothing, facial expressions, and body language. According to Brian, “I try to really see the world the characters inhabit, feel it as they feel it, and fill it with things which would make sense to them…as an illustrator you try to think like the character you’re illustrating, you can come up with the personal clutter which that character might collect, and present a fuller understanding of him or her” (Polydoros).
His preferred medium is acrylic painting. Acrylics are fast-drying paints that provide bold colors, subtle lighting, depth, and allow the artist to paint over his mistakes. According to his official web site, Brian says that the thing he likes most about writing and drawing is “the idea that I can make up a story and if I do it well, it will actually seem real to some readers.” Brian says he reads a lot because it’s important to exercise his imagination. He also researches for his illustrations. When he drew the library in Bats at the Library, he visited the actual library that he knew as a child to take photographs and make sketches.
The books Brian has written are rhythmical and contain rhymes. In his book, Bats at the Library, Brian creates detailed acrylic paintings on full and double-page spreads. He also uses the style of chiaroscuro in his illustrations, which is to strongly contrast light and dark to create the appearance of depth. The story takes place at night so lots of blue and brown colors are used, and the last page is a lighter blue as it becomes day (the bats’ bedtime). The illustrations are filled with humorous bat and human-like behavior, such as the wearing of glasses by the older bats, hungry bats looking at books about moths to eat, bats laughing while photocopying themselves on the photocopy machine, bats playing in the castles of pop-up books, and bats hanging upside down during story time. The bats imagine themselves in the books being read, and detailed illustrations show bats in familiar stories, such as Little Red Riding Hood, Peter Rabbit, the Sword in the Stone, and Alice in Wonderland. When you read a story with Brian Lies’ illustrations, you will see how his detailed illustrations bring the story to life.
Brian Lies activity Target audience: Kindergarten- 3rd grade
The school librarian will read Bats at the Library to students. Since the bats in the book imagine themselves in their favorite books, the librarian will have students draw a picture of themselves doing something in one of their favorite books. Then, the school librarian will have students share their pictures and display the pictures in the library in preparation for Brian’s visit.
Works Cited
Bateman, Donna M. Deep in the Swamp. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge, 2007. Print.
Lies, Brian. Bats at the Library. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008. Print.
Lies, Brian. Hamlet and the Enormous Dragon Kite. Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Company, 1994. Print.
Lies, Brian. Official Website of Children's Book Author/Illustrator Brian Lies. 2010.
Web. 24 Oct 2010.
Polydoros, Lori. "Brian Lies - SCBWI." Society of Children's Book Writers and
Illustrators. Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators., 2010. Web. 24 Oct
2010.
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